Pet owners should register their dogs, cats and other pets - FINDEFIX, the pet register of the German Animal Welfare Federation, points this out with a new online campaign. “Found animals go to the animal shelter. Registered animals come home.” is the slogan of the campaign. From now on, FINDEFIX will be using its social media channels and the website www.findefix.com to provide facts, motifs, fates and success stories to explain the protection offered by registration and how it also relieves the burden on animal shelters.
“54% of dogs and cats in Germany are not registered. If these animals run away in a frightful situation or escape, they cannot be assigned to an owner at the animal shelter,” explains Daniela Rohs, Head of FINDEFIX, the pet register of the German Animal Welfare Federation. She therefore strongly advises people to have their pets identified by a vet using a transponder with a microchip and then register them with FINDEFIX. “Registration is free and can be done online in three minutes. But it protects your pet for life,” says Rohs.
To register at www.findefix.com, pet owners must enter the 15-digit number stored on the microchip together with their contact details and information about the animal. You can also register the number of a tattoo or the ring number for birds. If the animal escapes and is picked up, animal shelters - as well as vets - can read the number on the microchip using a reader. The FINDEFIX team then determines who is behind the registered number and can inform the owner immediately.
RELIEF FOR ANIMAL SHELTERS THROUGH FAST REHOMING
The approximately 550 animal shelters affiliated with the German Animal Welfare Federation take in around 350,000 new animals every year. The majority of these are found animals that the animal shelters keep on behalf of the local authorities as “found objects”. While some of the found animals are presumed to have been abandoned, others are sorely missed somewhere. If the owners have registered their animals with FINDEFIX, they can be informed promptly of their pet's whereabouts. The animal does not have to stay at the shelter longer than necessary and can quickly return to its familiar home. This also relieves the burden on animal shelters, which have more capacity to take in found, surrendered or confiscated animals. Found animals for which no owner can be found are lovingly cared for at the shelter and placed in a new, suitable home after a certain period of time.
