Cat elend in Schaumburg: Animal protection association is fighting for growing street cat population

Cat elend in Schaumburg: Animal protection association is fighting for growing street cat population

Nenndorf/Rodenberg. The street cats in Schaumburg are in an alarming condition! The animal protection association Rodenberg/Nenndorf desperately fights the growing population of overgrown cats. Despite the statutory castration obligation, which can be punished with a fine of up to 5000 euros, many cat owners ignore this regulation. Jutta Schneider, the chairwoman of the association, reports on a worrying increase in the street cats, which has developed over the years. "We haven't had such a big population of street cats for a long time," she complains.

Another problem is the insufficient registration of the chipped cats. Many owners let their animals chip them, but fail to register them with the corresponding portals such as Tasso.de or Findefix.de. As a result, even chipped cats that are given in animal shelters or the police cannot be assigned to their owner. The case of the Maine Coon Cat Ember, which was found in the Bad Nenndorf animal catchment station, is particularly tragic. She suffered from severe parasite infestation and anemia after she was withdrawn a lot of blood.

animals withdrawn and hidden

The silent suffering of the street cats remains largely unnoticed in Germany. In contrast to the street cats in southern countries, which often visibly roam, the animals hide here on abandoned land and cemeteries. The animal protection association is investing enormous resources to relieve the suffering of these animals. They catch, feed and neuter the cats, but they bear the costs themselves. Older street cats that can no longer be used to humans remain suddenly and are exposed again after the castration. In addition, dealing with these animals is extremely dangerous for the carers, since the cats often bite and scratch.

Tierschutzverein Rodenberg leaves empty from

The problem of the street cats is man-made. According to the German Animal Welfare Association, they do not come from wild cats, but from uncastrated domestic cats. An uncastrated cat can testify in just ten years of millions of offspring. In order to relieve the animal shelters, the Ministry of Agriculture in Lower Saxony provided 200,000 euros for castrations. But the funds were used up after only a day and a half, and the animal protection association Rodenberg went away empty -handed in all three distributions. The "greyhound principle" punishes small clubs that cannot act quickly enough. A total of only six quarantine places are available, and the overgrown cats have to stay in the shelter for ten days after castration before they are released into freedom.