Tierdatenbank/Animaux Sans Foyers has closed down.

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
As was mentioned in this thread:

https://www.englishforum.ch/pet-trad...ml#post2889608

The Switzerland-wide non-commercial database of homeless animals, Tierdatenbank/Animaux Sans Foyers, has had to close down, due to economic reasons.

Sad news for all involved in animal rehoming, and all looking for a new family member. Tierdatenbank was an important resource for the Swiss rescue community - and for me personally. Four of the Muttley Crew came to me thanks to the database, and I will be eternally grateful to the people behind the scenes for bringing some very special souls into my life. These good folks did much to help homeless pets, and deserve a round of applause for their good work.

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So please keep in mind when reading old threads that the database no longer exists, the links will no longer work.

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Before it closed down, Tierdatenbank recommended that people searching for a pet might in the future look at Tieronline.ch.

This is a commercial venture, but one with (from the disclaimer on their website - no personal knowledge) stricter controls to weed out the 'bad actors' than others. You can browse this site anonymously, but need to register to get contact details of the person or organization offering the animal. This site does is not set up for filtering the way Tierdatenbank did, btw.

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Going forward we will all need to do our own due diligence to a greater degree when looking to adopt. Be aware that most of the amalgamating platforms out there are commercial.

Towards that end, please read this from the BLV on 'Hundehandel im Internet':

http://www.hundekauf.ch/docs/tierinserate.html

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I find that I am now going straight to the various Tierheims' individual websites to check for new additions as I search for our next member of the Muttley Crew. Be aware, though, that not all rescues seem to have been prepared for the loss of Tierdatenbank and so some are without listings at the moment. Hopefully these will find another way to publicize their animals soon.

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As time goes on, perhaps we might compile a list of Swiss shelters, rescue organizations, and 'trusted' sites in another thread - but it would probably be best to discuss this with the mods first, as we don't want an EF thread cluttered up with posts from 'bad actors' who might pop up here.

So - a sad turn of events for homeless animals in Switzerland. But hopefully all you who are ready to open your hearts and homes to a furry, feathery, or scaly animal in need will also be willing to go the extra step to find your new friend.

2
That’s so sad. Thanks for the information.

3
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of humankind.

Mahatma Gandhi

4
Ironically, there was a feature on SRF1 'Glanz & Gloria spezial' tonight about Swiss celebrities and their adopted rescue dogs.

5
Did they know this was coming or is it a sudden thing? I ask because Blueangel mentions the G&G segment, which could have been used to raise funds to keep the organization running. I'm sure many of our EFers would have contributed. But maybe it would have been a bandaid on a gaping wound, I don't know.

Definitely a big loss for the animals, people seeking pets, and of course the smaller shelters that relied on the database to get the word out.

6
I have no idea.

Took me by complete surprise, but I'm just a user of the database, nothing more. I usually land on the search page, not the home page, so I don't even know long the closure notice was there. BlueAngel pointed it out on the thread linked above, a few days before the closure - that was the first I'd heard of the news.

I do hope that something similar grows out of this. I'd be more than willing to donate, or subscribe, to a non-commercial service.