The Australian shepherd Snoetje has been in an animal shelter in Oss for six months, because his owners no longer come to pick him up. And although he is well cared for, the young dog slowly languishes in his cage. It appears that it is more common for owners to no longer show up, not pay and abandon their pets to their fate.
They can also discuss it at Dierenpension Knoops in Mierlo. “A businessman regularly brought his dog to us,” says an employee. “But at some point he stopped showing up.”
“The grass in the garden was three meters high, the house was empty.”
Time passed and at the boarding house they decided to visit the man’s home. “When we got there, the grass in the garden was three meters high. The house was empty and he and his wife had left. Fortunately, the dog ended up in the care of someone else.”
Four cats were abandoned in a similar manner at the De Wildert animal boarding house in Chaam. “The owner had already placed her cats in several boarding houses and then not paid,” says Petra Martens. “Even bailiffs couldn’t find her. And she never came back to us for her animals.”
“Luckily we were able to rehome the cats, but we couldn’t get enough money.”
“They were with us for six months, because that woman was nowhere to be found,” she continues. “Fortunately, we were able to relocate the animals through a foundation, but the money was hard to come by.”
Last summer it happened again at the guest house. “A man then brought his young shepherd to us for a period of two weeks. But he was never picked up,” says Petra. “We eventually had to put that dog to sleep because he was completely unmanageable and therefore had nowhere else to go. It’s so sad. These kinds of people shouldn’t have animals.”
The fact that some people want to get rid of their animals cheaply is reason for De Wildert in Chaam to take measures. “Nowadays, people who bring their pet to us for a longer period of time have to pay the bill in advance. In this way we hope to prevent these sad cases.”
For 72-year-old Piet Tonies from Dierenhotel Jaonenhoef in Oss, where the Australian shepherd Snoetje has been staying since last summer, the costs have now risen to 2,500 euros. For him it is already the sixth time that a dog has been discarded in this way.
“Five shepherds, and the owners just let it go.”
And that also happened to an acquaintance of Piet, who has an animal boarding house near the Belgian border. “They once brought five shepherds there. The agreement was that they would stay for ten days, but after three weeks they were still there. The owners simply ignored it. Then my friend went to the address of those people to seek redress. “But the house was empty. There was no one there. Well, and then he sat there with five dogs watching.”
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Dog Snoetje has been in boarding for 6 months, but his owner does not pick him up