New regulations for dogs

What was recently in the media? It concerns a highly official regulation about what animals need, and quite a bit more. To the great astonishment of most citizens, the Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner wants to guarantee dogs sufficient exercise and caring supervision, as well as to issue stricter rules for animal transports and dog breeders. In our view, these passages are really necessary and have my fullest understanding.

Among other things, the regulation is intended to oblige dog owners to grant their animal outdoor exercise at least twice a day for a total of at least one hour. This also applies to dogs kept in a kennel. On this, the minister says that pets are by no means merely cuddly toys and that their biological needs must be taken into account without fail. We at DOG FIT welcome every measure that promotes the quality of life of the animals.

New rules for dog breeding and keeping

In future, dog breeders will be required to look after their puppies intensively for at least four hours a day, so that they can get sufficiently used to people. In addition, for breeding it should apply that a supervisor may look after at most three litters at the same time. The tethered keeping of dogs, that is, being permanently chained up, is to be prohibited in principle, or only permitted under very specific conditions. The monitoring of these rules is the responsibility of the state authorities, with kennel keeping in particular being the focus.

For animal transports within Germany, it is to be stipulated that these may last at most 4.5 hours. This applies especially if the temperatures in the transporter can climb to over 30 degrees. Stricter rules are to be enforced here, going beyond the existing European law, in order to caringly protect the welfare of the animals.

Survey results from the time of crisis

The results of an interesting survey by the Pet Trend Barometer regarding pets in coronavirus times have been announced. The results paint a clear picture of the current situation.

• 67 percent of animal owners now spend significantly more time with their animal
• 82 percent of participants regard their animal as an important source of security in times of crisis
• 24 percent fear not being able to reach a veterinary practice in an emergency
• Likewise 24 percent are worried about the daily care during a quarantine

The results show a clear trend towards a return to one's own four walls and, at the same time, great uncertainty regarding the current information situation and medical care.

New fee schedule for the veterinary emergency service

An important innovation concerns the costs when visiting a practice outside regular hours. Anyone who now has to go to an animal clinic or seeks out the emergency service must reckon with higher fees. Even before the actual treatment, an emergency basic fee of 59.59 euros is now charged. In addition, the veterinary professional may charge two to four times the fee rate for the treatment itself.

These new fees apply at weekends and on all public holidays. They also apply for the night hours, that is, in the period from 6 pm in the evening to 6 am in the morning. If the practice, however, has deviating normal consultation hours, such as consultations on Saturday morning, then this special emergency fee schedule does not apply.

This article serves for general information and for caring clarification about current legal and financial changes for dog owners.