A safe place for animals in needOur Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center gives animals a second chance

Be it bears, dogs, monkeys, goats, reptiles or parrots: Animals in need find refuge at the Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center of the German Animal Welfare Federation. On a 13-hectare site in Kappeln on the Baltic Sea, we have created a unique place for confiscated and abandoned pets as well as injured or orphaned wild animals , which is also regarded as a model facility.

Opened in 2003, the Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center in Schleswig-Holstein is a project close to the heart of the German Animal Welfare Federation. The facility, which is unique in Germany, helps animal welfare organizations and authorities by taking in animals for which no one else has capacity. A new life then begins for horses, chickens, reptiles, monkeys, dogs, parrots and other animals at the largest animal welfare facility in northern Germany.

The Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center takes care of animals in particular need of help. On the 13-hectare site, monkeys live next to pigs, bearded dragons next to dogs and birds of prey next to raccoons that have no place in normal animal shelters or rescue centers. Our team provides medical treatment for confiscated and abandoned pets and places them with new owners. Sick, injured or orphaned wild animals are cared for by our staff with great empathy and, if possible, released back into the wild over time. We also care for poorly kept animals from zoos and circuses and find them a home here. Another task is to develop solutions for current animal welfare issues, which are then shared with animal welfare organizations and other animal welfare institutions. The Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center is also a place of learning and training. Children and young people can take part in guided tours and projects on animal and nature conservation topics. Interested parties also have the opportunity to take part in free guided tours. The center also trains animal keepers and is a seminar venue for animal shelter employees as well as a recognized placement site for the Voluntary Ecological Year and the Federal Voluntary Service.

At the Lissi Lüdemann House, our experienced staff treat and train shelter dogs in need of help. This is especially for dogs that tend to have problematic behavior and, for example, quickly become aggressive - usually because people have previously treated them badly. At the facility, they can finally put their negative experiences behind them and learn to trust again. The long-term goal is to place the dogs with suitable owners. On average, our team at Lissi Lüdemann House looks after 14 to 18 dogs.

The Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center has had a reptile house since 2016 - it accommodates an average of 170 animals and was created in response to an acute need. This is because owners are increasingly handing over tortoises, iguanas, snakes and other exotic animals to animal shelters because the animals cost them too much time or money and because they have misjudged the requirements. However, these animals are also a challenge for animal shelters for financial, staffing and space reasons. They rarely have the capacity to cope with these demanding animals. At the Weidefeld Animal Welfare Centre, however, the reptiles can meet their needs in 400 square meters of space. The animals live in large terrariums, ponds with indoor and outdoor areas and an outdoor enclosure. Meanwhile, in the monkey station, which opened in 2012, we look after primates that have been kept in poor conditions. Here, guenons, rhesus monkeys, great apes and porcupines can recover from the stresses and strains of their difficult past and run, climb and play to their heart's content.

Large animals such as horses, pigs, goats and sheep find an animal-friendly home in our Weidefeld animal welfare center. Authorities appreciate this offer, as they otherwise have hardly any suitable accommodation options when they rescue animals from poor conditions. Animals from traveling circuses, for example, live here. Horses that have been mistreated or neglected can also enjoy freedom at our facility. Weidefeld has also had its own bear sanctuary since 2019. Today, the three brown bears Ronja, Mascha and Maya and the ruffed bears Balou, Serenus and Malvina live there. We were able to rescue the latter from the Ukraine. In the spacious enclosure designed especially for them, they have trees to climb, ponds to swim in and caves where they can retreat and hibernate.

Thanks in part to climate change, domestic wild animals in need of help now come to the rescue center almost all year round. Walkers, the fire department or animal shelter staff, for example, bring orphaned waterfowl chicks, injured birds of prey or hedgehogs to be nursed back to health. Our animal carers look after each individual animal with great care and ensure that they receive veterinary care and are housed and cared for in a manner appropriate to their species and needs. Once the animals are healthy or big enough, they are released back into the wild.

To ensure that our team at the Weidefeld Animal Welfare Center can continue to help animals in need, we need your support - for example for medication, food and for well-trained animal keepers who look after the welfare of the animals in their care 365 days a year. You can also sponsor a project and one or more animals. You will then receive a sponsorship certificate and regular information. You also have the opportunity to visit your protégés in person at the sponsor meeting.