Four paws

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Four paws
logo
legal form non-profit private foundation
founding 1988, Vienna
founder Helmut Dungler (1963-2020)
Seat Vienna, Austria ( ⊙ coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 4.2 ″  N , 16 ° 19 ′ 58 ″  E )
motto More humanity for animals
main emphasis Animal welfare for wild, domestic and farm animals
method Direct help, crisis response, lobbying, public relations, policy development
Action space worldwide
people Josef Pfabigan (Management), Nicole Schreyer (Management), Gerald Dick (Management)
sales 10,786,648.65 € (2017)
Employees around 500 employees worldwide (approx. 110 employees in Austria)
Website vier-pfoten.at

Four Paws (proper spelling: FOUR PAWS) is an international, Austrian organization with the claim that animal welfare to operate and campaigns and projects animals to help. It is financed through donations and tourism income from its own zoos .

history

The organization was founded on March 4th, 1988 by Helmut "Heli" Dungler in Vienna as a registered association . In 1993 Vier Pfoten was the first organization to systematically practice direct dialogue . In 1994, when the German office was founded, the Austrian one became an internationally active organization. The office in Switzerland was opened in 2000.

In 2001 Vier Pfoten was the first animal welfare organization to be awarded the Austrian seal of approval for donations

Between 2016 and 2020, Vier Pfoten undertook “rescue operations” for zoo animals in crisis areas such as Gaza , Mosul and Aleppo . and Khartoum . In April 2018, the 1st International Animal Welfare Summit (IAWS for short) was organized as a platform for facts and information, opinions, ideas and visions on the subject of animal welfare. In October 2018, Helmut Dungler, founder and foundation president of Vier Pfoten, was named Fundraiser of the Year by the Fundraising Association Austria . Since September 2019 the Austria office has a new management with Eva Rosenberg. Founder and President Heli Dungler died unexpectedly on January 5, 2020 . At the end of January 2020, Josef Pfabigan took over the management of the animal welfare organization.

aims

The goal of Vier Pfoten is to inform the public and to want to achieve long-term, legally anchored improvements for farm animals , laboratory animals and wild animals . In the livestock sector, the organization advocates keeping animals in a species-appropriate manner, geared towards the welfare of the animals, as well as against price dumping on meat products. She also calls for a ban instead of legitimizing fur farming through EU standards, the "rescue" and the ban on keeping wild animals privately and keeping wild animals in circuses.

organization

Vier Pfoten is divided into the following work areas in Austria: Country Director , donor support and fundraising , finances and administration as well as projects, campaigns and awareness- raising work on wild, farm and domestic animals and animal emergency aid in the event of a disaster. In addition, the organization is divided into: Leadership Team International , Board International , Executive Austria , European Office and Advisory Council . The content-related work of Vier Pfoten is divided into areas of competence. These work across borders and are technically responsible for all international and national activities of the four paws organization. The association has now been converted into a foundation in all countries .

Locations

  • Four paws Australia
  • Four paws Bulgaria
  • FOUR Paws - Foundation for Animal Welfare, Hamburg (Germany), member of the German Nature Conservation Ring
  • Four paws Hungary
  • Four paws Netherlands
  • Four paws Romania
  • Four paws South Africa
  • Four paws Switzerland
  • Four paws Great Britain
  • Four paws United States
  • Four paws European Policy Office (EPO)

criticism

In a critical statement on Vier Pfoten in May 2008, Stefan Loipfinger writes that the foundation aggressively and on a large scale uses “unworthy photos of bears” to attract donations. In 2006, 1.36 million euros were spent on this campaign alone, which represents around 20% of the total donation volume this year. Loipfinger also criticized the fact that the annual report was “too general” despite the fact that it was described as “transparent” by Vier Pfoten . Vier Pfoten publishes earnings and the use of funds in the annual report, which is audited by external auditors in accordance with the German Commercial Code .

The Swiss section of Vier Pfoten was criticized in an article published by Weltwoche in March 2010 . In the text by editor Alex Reichmuth , former employees of the regional organization accused inefficiency and lack of transparency. So technically less competent employees would be hired. Furthermore, in her opinion, donations are used for inefficient campaigns instead of being invested in sustainable animal welfare. Other animal welfare organizations would also be critical of Vier Pfoten . When it comes to organization, “the spectacle comes before the point”. The organization denied these allegations under threat of legal action. The parties are said to have reached an out-of-court settlement.

In Germany, Stiftung Warentest examined numerous animal and nature conservation organizations in November 2013. Vier Pfoten Germany was classified as an uneconomical organization. “According to the 2012 annual report, not even half of the expenditure went into projects and campaigns” of the organization. Vier Pfoten Germany contradicted this in a press release and stated that more than 65 percent of the expenses were used for the purpose of the statutes and thus the criterion of economic efficiency was met.

See also

List of bear protection facilities

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Board. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
  2. ^ Association history
  3. ↑ Fundraiser Magazine 5/2010 (PDF, p. 13), accessed on January 6, 2020
  4. ↑ 30 years of four paws
  5. ↑ FOUR PAWS - Foundation for Animal Welfare - non-profit private foundation , accessed on July 2, 2020 in Osgs.at
  6. ↑ Fundraising Association Austria dismayed by the passing of Heli Dungler , on January 7, 2020 in Ots.at
  7. ↑ Gaza Strip: Escape from "Cemetery of the Stuffed Animals"
  8. ↑ Animals from the zoo in the Gaza Strip brought to Orf.at on April 8, 2019
  9. ↑ The last surviving animals from the Mosul Zoo leave Iraq
  10. ↑ Amir Khalil saves animals in Aleppo's destroyed zoo
  11. ↑ Drama: Lions starve to death in front of the zoo visitors - predators completely emaciated , from January 28, 2020 in Tz.de.
  12. ↑ FOUR PAWS: 30 years in the service of animals
  13. ↑ Heli Dungler is Fundraiser of the Year
  14. ↑ Eva Rosenberg is now head of Vier Pfoten Austria , accessed on October 10, 2019 in Extrajournal.net.
  15. ↑ FOUR PAWS family mourns founder and President Heli Dungler , accessed on January 6, 2020 in Vier-pfoten.at.
  16. ↑ Four paws: Josef Pfabigan follows Heli Dungler , from January 31, 2020 in Noen.at.
  17. ↑ Bauernbund: End price wars for food - Support from WWF and Vier Pfoten is welcomed , from June 5, 2020 in Ots.at
  18. ↑ Fur farming: Hartinger-Klein for EU-wide ban of March 18, 2019 in Orf.at
  19. ↑ Orphaned long-eared owl baby discovered , April 11, 2019, accessed on May 30, 2019 in Noe.orf.at.
  20. ↑ Romania - FOUR PAWS brings rescued sheep to a new home after a shipwreck , from January 4, 2020 in An24.at.
  21. ↑ "Embarrassing for Germany": Expert condemns keeping wild animals in the circus , from May 3, 2019, accessed on May 30, 2019 in Haz.de.
  22. ^ Association structure and organization
  23. ↑ Name and registered office according to § 1 of the statutes
  24. ↑ Stefan Loipfinger: Aggressive animal welfare advertising - Too little money for projects by Vier Pfoten on charity-watch.de (archive version)
  25. ↑ Vier Pfoten Income and Expenses 2017, accessed on: April 4, 2019 in Vier-Pfoten.at, page 44
  26. ↑ a b Alex Reichmuth : Paws on the wrong track . In: Die Weltwoche issue 12/10 of March 24, 2010; http://www.weltwoche.ch/bedingungen/2010-12/artikel-2010-12-pfoten-auf-abwegen.html ( Memento from March 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ Vier Pfoten emphatically rejects criticism
  28. ↑ Donation organizations in the test of the Stiftung Warentest In: test 12/2013, p. 11 and test.de from November 26, 2013.
  29. ^ Press release from Vier Pfoten from November 30, 2013