Antwerp (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Flemish government is giving €806,000 to 119 shelters, including 29 in Antwerp. Main shelters in Mechelen, Olen, and Turnhout need funds for vet care, space, and upgrades.
As VRT News reported, the Flemish government is giving €806,000 to support 119 animal shelters, including 29 in Antwerp, Belgium. Each shelter gets a fixed amount and more money if it cares for many animals or has many adoptions. This help comes at the right time. Many shelters are having trouble paying their bills.
In Mechelen, the local shelter looks after 34 dogs and 33 cats. There are also 17 dogs and 80 cats staying with foster families. The shelter has 7 full-time workers and around 100 volunteers. Money from adoptions and donations is not enough.
Most of the budget goes to staff, vets, and medicine. Food is mostly donated, but other costs like heating and building repairs are very high. The extra money from the government is much needed.
“Animal shelters do fantastic work, including in Antwerp. They care for neglected and abused animals when no one else is willing to do so,
Says Wets.
Until recently, they didn’t receive any structural financial support, and I’m very happy that we’ve changed this and that we’ve since found even more funding for our shelters.”
What can the government support do for struggling animal shelters in Flanders?
The animal shelter in Mechelen is facing big problems with its old building. The place no longer fits today’s needs, and the heating system is very outdated. Because of this, energy bills are much too high. The shelter is now working with the city to find a better place. They want a new building.
In 2021, Minister Zuhal Demir started giving regular money to shelters. This was the first time they received support like this. Since then, the total money for shelters in Flanders has gone up by 30%. For Mechelen, this could be the start of a new and improved shelter that meets modern standards.
Many animal shelters in Flanders still depend heavily on donations to keep running. Adoption fees help a little, but they are not enough to pay for all the daily needs. Yannick Dave from the Mechelen Animal Protection Society says that most of their money comes from kind people and companies who give donations.
He also talks about bequests, when someone leaves money or property to the shelter in their will, often because they have no family. These gifts help pay for food, medicine, and staff. More and more, shelters need this kind of help because costs keep going up. The Little Jungle Cat Shelter in Olen look after around 130 cats and is almost always full.
Vet bills are high and hard to manage. They built a special garden where sick or injured stray cats can live safely, so they don’t have to be put down. But space is tight, and they want to build a second winter shelter. Because money is short, they can only make slow progress.
“We rely mainly on private donations through social media like Facebook,
Says founder Tine Van der Meiren.
In addition, there are, of course, the adoption fees.”
The animal shelter Veeweyde in Turnhout has high medical bills every month, around €12,000. Most of their money goes to help the animals with things like surgery and care. They only fix buildings or buy other things if there is money left.
The shelter takes care of many animals, including dogs, cats, rodents, and sometimes even goats and pigs. Money is always tight. The Bird Rescue Centre in Brasschaat and Kapellen also needs help to keep running. They get money from donations and from a newspaper they sell once a year.
“We’ve been working on building a second winter shelter for quite some time now. But because we only have a small budget, progress is slow.”
Tine Van der Meiren
Cat shelter Little Jungle
Running an animal shelter is getting more expensive every year. Coordinator Dafne Van Miefhem says they need money for a vet who comes every day, an incubator that uses electricity, food, and cleaning supplies. The support from the government is helping a lot right now. They also replaced old wooden bird cages with new aluminium ones, which cost a lot of money.
Around 120 volunteers help at the shelter. Shelters also get extra money when they care for animals taken from people who abuse them. Morgane says it is good that the police are doing more to stop animal abuse, but it also means more sick and hurt animals are coming in.
These animals need care, and that costs money. The shelter gets many calls each week to take more animals, but they often say no because there is no space. To get money from the government, shelters only have to follow a few simple rules. One rule is that they must post their animals on www.adopteereendier.beso people in Flanders can find pets to adopt.
