Animal rescue prepares for thousands of calls during the festive season
Nobody needs emergencies at Christmas. If people are affected, a doctor is called or a rescue center is visited. But what do you do when a beloved pet needs help? This is not easy to answer, as rescue services in Germany are organized too inconsistently. But there is help.
If your pet is suddenly unwell: Just like the emergency number for people in a serious medical situation, there are emergency numbers in Germany for quick help for sick and injured dogs and cats. According to the aid organization Tier-Notruf.de, it wants to establish a special emergency number nationwide in Germany. It has already set up one.
By the beginning of December, it had received around 2000 emergency calls, said animal rescue paramedic Patricia Picker. The number is on a par with the previous year. "Anyone who has an animal emergency can seek help there." According to the organization, it sees a need for a uniform number throughout Germany.
So far, there are various animal emergency rescue centers in several federal states, some of which are concentrated in individual cities. In some cases, volunteers or specially trained experts drive emergency vehicles to the injured or seriously ill animals. In Thuringia, for example, the State Chamber of Veterinarians has set up an emergency call service to direct pet owners to the nearest veterinarian in an emergency. Around 20,000 calls are received each year, said a spokesperson. There is one vet per district who is on standby if a pet is unwell in the evening or at night. Veterinary clinics are also a point of contact.
More calls in summer than in winter
In the experience of Tiernotruf.de, most emergency calls are received in the summer months. "It's simply because people are more active with their animals and it's light for longer," said Picker. The animal rescuers based in the north also go to emergencies themselves. "We are only responsible for pets, wild animals are not included," she said. They take care of animals that are poisoned or have accidents, for example.
In the aid organization's experience, its rescuers are called out more often in rural areas than in cities. The organization also sees differences between urban and rural areas when it comes to the missions themselves. "In a big city, dogs and cats sometimes fall out of windows. That happens less in the countryside." Stefan Bröckling from Tiernotruf in Düsseldorf manages a maximum of ten calls a day. For example, he catches injured animals or rescues them from difficult situations.
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In Thuringia, pet owners can contact the State Chamber of Veterinarians for help in an animal emergency, as they operate an emergency call service to direct owners to the nearest veterinarian. During the festive season, international animal rescue organizations like Tier-Notruf.de anticipate receiving a similar number of emergency calls as previous years, emphasizing the need for a uniform animal emergency number across Germany.
Source: www.ntv.de
