Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) – The costs are increasing and this also affects owners of dogs or cats. The animal boards in Hesse, which give out free food to registered customers, are currently experiencing more and more demand. There is also usually support for medical problems of the animals. It is now important that no less is donated, appeals, for example, to Melanie Löffert from the animal board in Fulda.

Karsten Plücker from the animal board of the animal shelter “Wau-Mau- Insel” in Kassel reports on long queues that form on distribution days. There are a lot of new registrations. The food distribution of the interest group for animal welfare in Central Hesse also registers a higher demand – while donations are falling at the same time. “We expect that the demand will continue to rise,” says Pirko Wedhorn from the board of the association.

The aim of the donation-based table is that animals that have been living with their owners for a long time do not have to be given away for important reasons, says Inge Böhm from the board of directors of the animal table in Frankfurt. The majority of customers have cats, plus many dogs, and there are also some bird and rat keepers.

With a view to inflation and high energy prices, the Frankfurter Tafel also assumes that demand will increase. “It’s a tremendous help,” says a 59-year-old woman from Frankfurt who is a table customer with Dhalija, a 14-year-old animal protection dog from Romania. Your disability pension is not enough to care for the sick dog.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:221204-99-772331/2