Institutions

The federal office of the German Animal Welfare Federation in Bonn is the administrative and organisational centre of our collaborative work. It is also where the German pet register and employees working for the animal welfare label “For more animal protection” are located. Support for members, animal welfare associations and regional associations is professionally coordinated from here, as is the handling of enquiries from citizens regarding animal and nature protection issues.

A special department takes care of our young members and young people interested in animal welfare. The press office, also located in Bonn, is the point of contact for journalists looking for information about animal protection concerns. The public relations department also includes the editorial team of DU UND DAS TIER magazine as well as the online editorial team.

Since 2008, the German Animal Welfare Federation has had its own office in the German capital. This close proximity to the institutions of federal government as well as the representations of the federal states allows us to quickly and easily contact office holders, elected representatives and scientific advisers in the individual buildings.

The Animal Welfare Academy (Akademie für Tierschutz) in Neubiberg near Munich is the think tank of the German Animal Welfare Federation. This is where dedicated scientists from the fields of biology, veterinary medicine and law tackle society’s animal welfare problems on the basis of sound scientific knowledge. In so doing, they develop the principles which guide our animal welfare work in Germany and the rest of Europe.

The Academy enjoys international renown, particularly in the field of alternative research methods. In the academy’s cell culture laboratory, non-animal research methods are developed in cooperation with the authorities, industry and universities to accelerate the abolition of animal testing.

Thanks to the latest animal protection expertise combined within the Academy, it has become the ideal meeting and information platform for everyone interested in animal welfare. Professional animal welfarists and volunteers alike can study at the Academy and, for example, acquire the basis for the proof of competence that is required by law in order to manage an animal shelter.

The German Animal Welfare Federation has created an institution that is unique in Germany on a 13-hectare former military site at Kappeln/Schlei in Schleswig-Holstein. The Weidefeld animal welfare centre is the largest animal welfare institution in northern Germany and was officially opened in 2003.

The centre is a sanctuary for confiscated pets or animals in need. Many injured or orphaned wild animals have also found a home here. Vulnerable and problem dogs are treated at Lissi Lüdemann House before being rehomed with experienced owners. Because animal shelters are increasingly having to take in exotic animals, a new reptile centre was opened in 2016. In 2019 three brown bears and two asiatic black bears moved from the former protection project “Anholter Bärenwald” (Anholt bear forest) to a new, near-natural and species-appropriate enclosure in Weidefeld.

Practical solutions to current animal welfare issues are developed and implemented in Weidefeld. The findings are used to benefit the animal welfare associations and other animal welfare facilities, thus making a direct contribution to animal welfare in the long term as well. Young people can gain insights into active animal and nature protection work and get their first experience of handling our fellow creatures. The centre is also a training organisation for animal keepers and a recognised work site for the voluntary ecological year (FÖJ).

Every year in Germany, thousands of animals are lost and cannot be found by their owners. Owners who have had their pets marked by microchip, ear tattoo or ring (birds) and registered at FINDEFIX, the Federation’s pet register, stand a good chance of having their pets returned. If your lost pet is found it can be clearly identified and you will soon be able to take it home again.

We have been helping people to find their lost pets since 1981, making this the oldest service of its kind in Germany.

The offer of  FINDEFIX is a free service provided by the German Animal Welfare Federation for all pet owners. We offer a nationwide search for the missing animal in close cooperation with more than 740 animal welfare associations and over 550 animal shelters affiliated to the German Animal Welfare Federation. Animals are protected even on holiday, as FINDEFIX exchanges information with other registration services worldwide. The easiest way to register your animals is online or by calling our service hotline at +49-(0)228-60496-35.

Since 2000, the German Animal Welfare Federation has been committed to the protection of animals in Ukraine. In 2005, the Federation opened an animal welfare and neutering centre in the port of Odessa in order to provide medical treatment and care for the city’s street dogs and countless feral cats. The concept of “catch, neuter, release” focuses on “helping them to help themselves”. It has stopped the killing of street animals in Odessa, breaking the cycle of continuous breeding. The centre serves as a model, including for other regions in southern and eastern Europe where animals are condemned to a life on the streets.

The non-profit foundation “Stiftung des Deutschen Tierschutzbundes” was approved by the Cologne district government in late December 2000. According to its articles of association, it was set up to promote the abolition of animal experiments, to support projects for the research or application of methods to replace animal experiments or render them redundant, and to present an animal welfare advancement award. 

Stiftung Deutscher Tierschutzbund
In der Raste 10
53129 Bonn, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)228/-60496-63
Fax: +49 (0)228-60496-40

Email: stiftung(at)tierschutzbund.de