A new report by the German Animal Welfare Federation shows that the suffering of millions of street cats has become one of the biggest unnoticed animal welfare problems in Germany in recent years: A nationwide grievance that is taking on ever greater dimensions. Animal welfare organizations and animal shelters are reaching their limits and cannot cope with the cat misery on their own. The German Animal Welfare Federation is therefore calling on the federal government to introduce a nationwide castration requirement for cats. At the same time, the federation is launching the "Every cat's life counts" campaign on August 8, Cat Day.
"Public perception and political decision-makers have still not grasped the explosive nature of the issue. Street cats suffer in secret; their lives are agonizing and, above all, short! In order to break the vicious circle of uncontrolled reproduction and stop the suffering, there is an urgent need for a nationwide regulation for more cat protection that includes mandatory castration, identification and registration," demands Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation. So far, animal welfare organizations have mostly shouldered the responsibility alone; they fight daily to reduce the suffering of animals. "An absurdity", says Schröder - in view of the national goal of animal welfare. "Animal welfare organizations and animal rights activists must finally receive the support they deserve."
The Cat Protection Report contains current results from two previously unpublished online surveys conducted by the German Animal Welfare Federation together with Goldwind and YouGov. Both the member associations affiliated with the association (Goldwind) and cat owners (YouGov) were surveyed. This enables the federation to paint as accurate a picture as possible of the situation of street cats in Germany. An animal shelter trend survey from 2020 supplements the current survey results. In five chapters, the report illustrates, among other things, why there are street cats in Germany at all, what role cat owners play in this, why the population of street cats continues to rise and why the political support for cat protection to date has been inadequate. It illustrates how great the personnel and financial effort is for animal shelters to look after street cats at feeding stations and have them neutered. At the same time, the report shows practicable solutions to get the cat misery under control.
NEW CAT PROTECTION CAMPAIGN MAKES CAT MISERY VISIBLE
Together with the publication of the cat welfare report, the German Animal Welfare Federation is launching its "Every cat's life counts" campaign on August 8, with which the animal welfare campaigners are educating the public and calling politicians to account. The aim of the campaign is to make the suffering of German street cats visible and reduce it in the long term. In addition to the report, cat lovers can find further information and tips on how everyone can help street cats on the website www.jetzt-katzen-helfen.de.
Note to the editors: The cat protection report is available for free download at the following direct link: www.jetzt-katzen-helfen.de/report
