Dendermonde Collaborates with Dierenwereldkruis on Dog Shelter

Dendermonde (Eurotoday Newspaper) – The City of Dendermonde will collaborate with animal-welfare organisation Dierenwereldkruis to provide shelter and care for dogs in need, strengthening cooperation between municipal services, the local police and specialist animal-care professionals.

This collaboration will assist in receiving stray, abandoned, neglected and confiscated dogs, in addition to providing the city and Local Police Dendermonde with the expertise that the shelter has in dealing with animals that require temporary care, treatment, and behavioral evaluation.

“Both the city and the local police will be able to count on the expertise of the non-profit,” Alderman for Animal Welfare Laurens Hofman of Vernieuwing said.

What will the new partnership provide?

Dierenwereldkruis is supposed to act as a shelter partner of choice for stray dogs under this agreement. The organization will get hold of the animal when there is a need to shelter it. The cooperation should result in a more organized approach when there is a complaint about a stray dog. This way, instead of arranging the process individually, the city and the police will have a reliable partner that has experience with the animal handling process. The official advice from the municipality of Dendermonde suggests calling the police if one finds a roaming dog. The Local Police Dendermonde can be reached at 052 25 12 00 during office hours and 101 for urgent cases.

Which dogs could be taken to the shelter?

The cooperation is expected to cover several categories of dogs, including animals that are:

• Found roaming without an owner.
• Abandoned or surrendered by their owners.
• Neglected or suspected of being mistreated.
• Seized during animal-welfare or judicial investigations.
• Injured, frightened or otherwise unable to remain safely in their original surroundings.

The role of the shelter will become crucial if there is no possibility of immediately returning the animal back to its owner. The dog which is being investigated might need to stay at the shelter until it becomes clear whose dog it is.

What is Dierenwereldkruis’s role?

Dierenwereldkruis VZW is a refuge organization in Sint-Amands that houses stray dogs and cats, animals confiscated by authorities, and animals surrendered by their owners. It also takes care of animals and helps them get adopted when they are ready for adoption. The organization is situated in Hemelrijken 24 in Sint-Amands and is listed in Flanders as an animal refuge organization for dogs and cats. 

The activities of the organization include admission, housing, veterinary care, identification and adoption preparations. Animals admitted to the organization may require medical examination, vaccination, microchipping, quarantine, and behavioral test. Dierenwereldkruis has said before that animals are put into quarantine prior to being made ready for adoption, which means that the number of places available for admission becomes smaller. The organization is highly dependent on the work of volunteers and their help in dog walking and animal care. The need for people to walk the dogs, especially bigger ones, has been noted in the information provided by the organization.

Has Dendermonde used similar measures before?

The collaboration is built on previous actions that Dendermonde has undertaken to improve its handling of welfare cases for animals. For example, in October 2021, the Local Police of Dendermonde formed