2023-08-01 07:03:12
This weekend, the president of the La Louviere SPAlaunched an appeal on social networks because the situation is catastrophic in animal shelters. He is exhausted, he says, he himself welcomes animals into his home, because there is no more room in his center. In Charleroi, Franck Goffaux the director explains the situation there.
“We’ve been full, full, full for several months now. I think the refuge has been at saturation since the end of February, beginning of March. A situation that we have never known at least in our country and it is apparently the same thing in all the refuges in Wallonia. We feared at the time the holiday periods because in addition here, it unfortunately adds a layer to the already existing concern. But before, we had problems, let’s say, between mid-June and mid-September, the real holiday period. Here, unfortunately, this period has completely disappeared because the shelters have clearly been at saturation point for several months now.“.
An explosion of abandonments and more only in summer
The director of the SPA explains: “It extends exactly over the whole year. We have noticed this since unfortunately post-Covid. This period was extremely weird for all the refuges at that time, but in the opposite effect because there, the refuges emptied. Me, I found a refuge in Charleroi with a dozen animals for several months. People have, in quotes, rushed to the pet to go for a walk, to occupy the children, so that time passes a little less slowly in the time of the Covid. And so, at the time, we were afraid of the boomerang, as I called it, the return in force of all these animals that had passed through a shelter at the time. And strangely, in fact, all these animals are not come back to us“.
A worrying economic situation
One of the ways to understand this exceptional situation is undoubtedly the current economic crisis, people no longer know how to feed their animals.
Franck Goffaux acquiesce : “Yes, that is unfortunately an obvious fact that we see there too every day. I have people who are really in distress, who are precarious, who call us to say “Here, Mr Goffaux, I care regarding my pet because it is the only company, precisely, that I have since now several years. But my income prevents me from taking proper care of them. And so, as much as possible, we try to help them, these people, by giving them food, by giving them first aid or compulsory vaccinations for their pet. But unfortunately, at the present time, this demand is so constantly increasing that that too at some point, we will have to stop“.
And the director also points to the drop in donations: “Yes, we have seen that too for several months. When we had an open day at the shelter, the nice side of this day is that people generally always come with a package for the animals. And on a big day like Christmas, for example, we were going to get between 10 and 12 tons of food harvested over a big weekend. Today, we barely reach 5 tons. And people say, look, I made you happy because I like you, you’re doing a great job and you need that helping hand. But unfortunately, me today, I no longer know how to help you as I did yesterday“.
The dogs mainly present in the shelters are the Malinois and the American staff, and their stay is excessively long. Unfortunately, they suffer a lot from their image as aggressive dogs.
The conclusion always remains the same, it is before adopting an animal, it is necessary to be well prepared for it, to know what one commits to.
“There must be an awareness in the reflection before taking an animal home by saying, the first question, would I have the technical, human and above all financial means to take an animal home? And above all, what animal would suit me? It’s obvious that if you have an apartment and you work 9 hours a day, if you leave the Malinois all day in your apartment, don’t be surprised if when you get back, the sofa has changed sides a little. This is the problem. And then, this dog, unfortunately, will come to a shelter saying, there you go, this dog is destroyed. No, this dog does not destroy. This dog is bored. This dog needs to move, needs to work. And so, as there is only this famous sofa in front of him, the sofa becomes his play space. And unfortunately, the owner does not understand this“concluded the director of the SPA.
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