Hi there,
After having been there for almost four weeks, I thought I could tell a little bit about myself. Since I did not want to bore anyone with an eternally long text, I have divided my life into several areas and so everyone can decide for themselves what is interesting and what is not.
Today I want to devote myself first to a very large part of my life, namely animal welfare.
I grew up in a very animal-loving family and have always had numerous animals. In addition to my own cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and fish, my mum cared for sick and injured animals or helped them through the winter.
So I never had any fear of contact and there is really no animal that I do not like.
Very early on I developed my passion for dogs and since I did not have my own, I decided to help at the shelter when I was 14 years old.
At first I was laughed at when I asked if I could help with the dogs, but after I was traveling by bike every day for an hour, no matter how the weather was to help them, they quickly realized that I was serious and gave me more to do.
In the meantime, I was working with various carers who provided me with everything worth to know.I cleaned the boxes, helped with the feeding and took care of the animals. Now I was allowed to walk alone with the small dogs, but I also wanted to help the big one.
After I had proven myself, I was taught how to lead a dog correctly. At first I thought it would be enough to pet a dog, to give them love, to treat them good and respect them, but it is very important to be a pack leader too. This was especially aware of me later when I should take care of the new dogs.
After a few months, I also had my own foster dogs. My German shepherd Aiko and my three Husky Aira, Aslak and Bries.
After a year I started to take care of the newcomers. What I saw and experienced changed me enormously. It is really unimaginable what people do with an animal. Some dogs came to us in a life-threatening condition and some of them did not survive. Others were given to us because they injured an animal or a human and showed enormous aggression.
Others were brought by their owners because they meant that their dog behave impossible and did not listen and then of course there were the cases in which the owner died and the dog had no home.
At this point I would like to point out that no dog is born aggressive, normally it's caused by their owners. Most problems actually arise because people do not know how to handle a dog properly.
Before I blow up the frame on readable I do not want to go into detail here. However, if interested, I am more than willing to write more from my many years of experience in the shelter and perhaps to consider a few special cases.
The dogs in the pictures are my own and all from the shelter, I will introduce them soon.
Finally, help is always welcome. Who would like to help can do that in different ways:
- take care of animals in the shelter right there
- Donations (for food, veterinary costs, sleeping places, toys, ....) are always needed
- Donations in kind (food or anything that an animal can use)
And maybe if you want to buy a pet you could think about looking after an animal in the shelter.
Best whishes,
Enja