One year after the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the German Animal Welfare Federation remembers the suffering of the affected pets and people in the flood area - and calls for consequences together with its partner, the "Bundesverband Gemeinschaft Deutscher Tierrettungsdienste".
One year ago, on the night of July 14-15, 2021, heavy rainfall in western Germany led to a massive flood disaster with numerous deaths, injuries and destroyed livelihoods. Many pets and their owners were also affected. The German Animal Welfare Federation set up an animal aid camp in Altenahr as a base for animal rescuers. The member associations with their full-time and volunteer staff also provided great help, particularly in the flood areas, for example in rescuing and sheltering animals.
The German Animal Welfare Federation supported a total of 54 animal welfare associations and regional associations with up to 20,000 euros each after the floods. In addition, the association set up a central hotline for emergencies immediately after the disaster and provided information about offers of help on the website www.tierheime-helfen.de. The team from FINDEFIX, the German Animal Welfare Federation's pet register, distributed chip readers to animal welfare activists and animal rescuers and worked day and night to reunite animals with their owners.
Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation: “The suffering of the people and animals remains deep in our memories. Many helpers fought day and night to save the lives of animals too. The realization remains that such a catastrophe can happen again at any time and that we must be prepared. Many animal welfare organizations also urgently need to secure their animal shelters against future disasters, for example by building walls that are resistant to damming or installing drainage to improve water drainage. This can only be achieved with massive financial support from local authorities, the federal states and the federal government. And it will not succeed without donations from animal lovers for the local associations.” Schröder also reminds politicians not to lose sight of climate protection goals: “Otherwise we will soon be stumbling from natural disaster to natural disaster.”
Bernd Metzger, 2nd Chairman of the "Bundesverband Gemeinschaft Deutscher Tierrettungsdienste", who at the time was constantly involved in rescue operations on the Ahr, echoes Schröder's call for politicians to take action: “Pets are very important, they are part of the family. We must be able to help them quickly and unbureaucratically in the event of a disaster. It is therefore high time that the "Bundesverband Gemeinschaft Deutscher Tierrettungsdienste" was officially recognized as an organization for the prevention of dangers, as a so-called BOS facility, so that the trained animal rescuers have access to the disaster areas and are integrated into the information chain of the relief organizations.”
