Tierheim alliance: A heart for animals with special needs!

Tierheim alliance: A heart for animals with special needs!

Krems, Österreich - On June 13, 2025, animal protection Austria launched a nationwide mediation network, which specifically responds to the needs of animal shelter animals that have special requirements. In this network, the focus is on the mediation of individual animals, difficult to convey species and animals with specific keeping conditions. According to 5min.at, this cooperation between animal welfare associations should not only improve the communication of the organizations, but also use the resources more efficiently.

Stephan Scheidl, the head of an animal shelter, emphasizes the crucial role of networking. With the new platform, animal welfare organizations can report animals with special requirements and capture this information centrally. Similar facilities are actively involved in the process. The support also extends to transport and organizational aids, which means that the mediation is to be further optimized.

goals of the network

The network is pursuing several main goals. These include:

• mediation of animals with special husbandry conditions.
• merging individual animals with suitable species.
• Joint use of space, specialist knowledge and capacities.
• planned forwarding of interested parties to suitable organizations.

The idea behind this innovative network came from the cooperation of several animal shelters in Krems, Linz and Mentelberg in Tyrol. The first success stories include the mediation of the horses Mara and Fanny to Schabenreit, as well as the Simba parrot, who now lives with Madonna. Further remarkable placements are the Chinchilla Totoro, which was associated with a widowed fellow species, as well as the Berberaffe Cornelius, who found a new family at the Dutch Supplement station AAP.

adoption of animal shelter

according to tierschutzliga.de around 500,000 animals in animal shelters are given in Germany. Adoption offers these animals a second chance and enables others to move up. The cost of adoption vary between 50 and 350 euros, depending on the animal species, age and the individual characteristics of the animal. As a rule, the mediation fees for animal babies are higher than for older animals.

The prerequisites for adoption are individual and are based on the living conditions of the adopter and on the specific needs of the animal. The animal mediation database offers a comprehensive selection of animals that match the personal requirements. A preliminary control of the new home is usually carried out, followed by a protection contract that is intended to ensure a species -appropriate attitude of the animal.

The animal welfare league remains the contact for questions and feedback on the mediated animals and offers comprehensive information on food, care and attitude as part of consultations in the animal shelter.

interested animal shelters that want to become part of this new network can contact Tierschutz Austria by email. The initiative shows that by joint efforts, the animals can be better helped in need, while at the same time the awareness of the importance of animal adoptions is also strengthened. Further information is available on noe.orf.at.