Hamburg Animal Welfare Association from 1841
The Hamburger Tierschutzverein von 1841 e. V. (HTV) is an animal welfare association in Hamburg .
General
The Hamburger Tierschutzverein von 1841 e. V. is based at Süderstrasse 399 in the Hamburg district of Hamm . The main task of the association is the operation of the animal shelter there. Every year around 10,000 animals are looked after there by 80 employees and volunteers. In addition, the Hamburg animal welfare association is also committed to overarching animal welfare issues and fights, among other things. a. against animal experiments , factory farming and animal transport . The umbrella organization of the Hamburger Tierschutzverein is the German Animal Welfare Association .
The work of the HTV is mainly financed by the membership fees of the approx. 4,000 members of the association, donations and bequests. In addition, the association receives an annual grant from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg of around 1.5 million euros.
In terms of animal welfare policy, the Hamburg Animal Welfare Association is currently a. for the amendment of the Hamburg Dog Act and the containment of uncontrolled breeding free-living cats in the Hamburg city area through castration. The housing conditions for the animals in the shelter are constantly being improved. For example, the small animal house is currently being expanded. There is also an animal rescue service that is on duty 24 hours a day.
history
Foundation and early years
The association was founded on December 10, 1841 on the initiative of 20-year-old Amanda Odemann from Eppendorf and in the presence of 113 Hamburg citizens. Its predecessor was the Hamburg Association against Cruelty to Animals . In the following decades, the association campaigned, among other things, for better working conditions for draft horses and dogs, with successes such as maximum tensile load being achieved soon. Other problem areas were the transport conditions for cattle for slaughter and the use of bird traps .
At that time, stray dogs were captured in Hamburg, taken to the bondage and killed when no owner reported. It is true that the Hamburg Animal Welfare Association founded a "Committee for Stray Dogs" in 1852, financed additional cages and veterinary examinations in the bondage and looked for private foster accommodation. His real goal, however, was to open his own animal shelter. But finding a permanent location proved difficult. Initially, the association cooperated with various veterinarians who temporarily took in animals and with the veterinarian Peine, who ran a profit-oriented animal asylum. On October 18, 1887, the association finally opened Hamburg's first animal shelter in Neustädter Strasse. Here abandoned animals were housed and animals of the association members were also taken into boarding houses. Just two years later, however, due to increasing prostitution in the neighborhood, people started looking for a new location.
Animal shelter Süderstrasse
On July 29, 1897, the foundation stone for a new animal shelter, the so-called animal nursery , was laid on Süderstrasse. The area for this was initially leased by the finance deputation for 25 years. The conditions in the animal shelter were continuously improved, among other things a veterinarian came to the facility every day. After the lease expired in 1929, it was only through lengthy negotiations that evacuation could be prevented and the contract could be extended. In 1933 the police set up a small animal collection point on site, which led to additional tasks for the animal welfare association and required the construction of new kennels.
On the night of July 28-29, 1943, the animal shelter and the association's office were completely destroyed during the Hamburg firestorm , and many animals died. Foreign inspector Friedrich Meyn made sure that the home was poorly rebuilt the following year, using prisoners of war. The office was located in Gerhofstrasse. In 1947, Meyn had the main building rebuilt, new vehicles were used and animal welfare activities increased.
On February 21, 1955 Otto Kertscher was elected first chairman of the animal welfare association. In 1962 the construction of a new, modern animal shelter began on 25,000 square meters of leasehold land at Süderstrasse 399. This is the location of the association to this day. The cost of 1.6 million marks was financed by donations, inheritances and a government grant.
The HTV under the direction of Wolfgang Poggendorf
1989 Wolfgang Poggendorf took over the management of the HTV. Three years later, the board of directors terminated his employment contract, but reappointed him as managing director in 1995. This decision was very controversial and led to the then 1st chairwoman Susanne Kubiak resigning. In the following years, other board members who were dissatisfied with the management resigned; instead, people like Klaus Nahrstedt joined the board and left all important decisions to Poggendorf. At the end of 2005, Poggendorf himself took over the chairmanship of the association.
In 2007 Poggendorf and with it the Hamburg Animal Welfare Association hit the headlines. Reports appeared in the press about a condominium on Sylt that had been bequeathed to the HTV and that Poggendorf had bought from the association at a preferential price well below market value. Further violations of the requirement of the proper use of funds became public, there was an audit and the non-profit status of the association was revoked for 2004 to 2006. As a result, Poggendorf and two other board members resigned in December 2007. The rest of the board was reorganized under the leadership of Karin Klinkradt, but also resigned one month after a general meeting in January 2008 due to massive protests by the members of the association. The Hamburg District Court then appointed an emergency board member and two lawyers temporarily ran the business. In May 2008 there were finally new elections and the board of directors was newly formed from persons who were not previously charged, such as chairman Gabriele Waniorek-Goerke.
On November 3, 2008, a trial against Wolfgang Poggendorf began before the Grand Criminal Chamber of the Hamburg Regional Court. In addition to buying the house on Sylt, he was accused of misappropriating donations and inheriting securities. Poggendorf made an extensive confession and on the same day was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 euros in favor of the HTV for embezzlement and embezzlement.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Association website of the Hamburger Tierschutzverein, accessed on June 11, 2012
- ↑ a b c d e f g History website of the Hamburger Tierschutzverein, accessed on July 4, 2012.
- ^ Raffke trial against Wolfgang Poggendorf Hamburger Morgenpost, accessed on June 4, 2012.
- ↑ Suspended sentence for ex-animal shelter Poggendorf Die Welt, accessed on June 4, 2012.