Animal shelter terminates contract with city

For years, the Hamburg animal shelter on Süderstraße, one of the largest in Germany, has been complaining about the poor structural condition, too little space and too little money to be able to care for all animals in need in the Hanseatic city. There were repeated negotiations, especially with the city - about new areas and more money for the accommodation of animals that end up in the animal shelter on behalf of the city.

The Hamburg animal protection association HTV, which owns the animal shelter, has now escalated the dispute and terminated the contract with the city because the city's money for housing and caring for the animals does not cover the costs. "We have therefore decided to terminate the contract in good time at the end of 2023. We had no other choice, because we don't want to be held on to this extremely loss-making contract beyond 2023," the club announced on Monday in Hamburg.

At the same time, he hopes that the city will “finally conclude a fair contract for the welfare of the animals in Hamburg” with him. In it, the previous disproportion between the club's performance and the city's consideration must be eliminated.

The competent authority for justice and consumer protection confirmed the termination plans of the association on Monday. “We know that HTV wants to change the contract. Only the timing of this termination is surprising: we have long been in contract negotiations with the club," said a spokesman for the authorities.

For example, at the end of February, the authority announced that it would set up at least ten animal-friendly containers or comparable accommodation options in order to solve the space problem in the animal shelter for the time being. The talks between the city and the association also deal with the amount of reimbursement for services that HTV provides for the city. The next meeting is planned for mid-March. A new contract would apply from 2024.

According to the animal protection association, the services for the city make up about 80 percent of the association's services. The annual costs were last at six million euros, about two million of which came from the city. "So the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg benefits from the fact that we keep the animal shelter running with the help of donations."

According to HTV, there are considerable capacity bottlenecks in the shelter, particularly due to the dilapidated structural situation. In addition, there is currently an increased need for pets due to war, pandemic and economic hardship of broad sections of the population. The contract forces the association to focus the operation of the animal shelter on the animals in the city, the HTV was only able to take in other animals in exceptional cases, it said.

According to a spokeswoman, 142 dogs, 131 cats and 379 small animals are currently housed in the animal shelter, which according to its own information is the second largest animal shelter in Germany in terms of animal numbers. "That's comparatively little, because we recently had to impose tough admission freezes."

The red-green Senate has ignored the problems of the animal shelter Süderstraße for far too long, said the animal welfare spokesman for the opposition CDU parliamentary group, Sandro Kappe, in a first statement on Monday. It is long overdue for the city to adjust its payments to the actual needs of the shelter. Without the contract with the animal protection association, the Senate would not be able to fulfill its task of housing the apprehended animals in a species-appropriate manner.

Stephan Jersch from the left faction called the decision of the HTV "logical". The competent authority "locked itself in" and thus "caused this situation with open eyes". The emergency situation that arose was “precarious”. The Mitte district has been delaying the construction and replacement plans for a renovated or relocated animal shelter for years. "This is how Hamburg drives animal welfare against the wall," said Jersch.