On the occasion of ‘Europe Day’ on 9th May the International Animal Welfare Organization VIER PFOTEN and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’ Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZS A&M) announced the creation of a new management database on responsible ownership of dogs, supported by a Conference in October 2010 in Brussels.

The Portal CARODOG will offer a new, structured, science and fact-based information tool on the topic of dogs in Europe. “The message relayed through this portal is that if every dog in Europe has a responsible and well-informed owner, taking care and showing respect for his/her dog, then the canine over-population in Europe and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of stray dogs might finally start to decrease” says Helmut Dungler, President of VIER PFOTEN. “Only by a consequent and widespread European culture of responsible ownership of animals and a respective European wide strategy, the suffering of dogs in Europe can end.”
The Project Partners, together with representatives of the European Commission and the Federation of Veterinarians in Europe (FVE) in the Editors’ board of the CARODOG Portal, will support European wide strategies in order to cease the phenomenon of unwanted dogs: “for us the only appropriate and sustainable approach to stop canine overpopulation in Europe is birth control and not euthanasia. Therefore we want to provide professionals like veterinarians, politicians on all levels such as mayors, and legal persons such as prosecutors, with all the necessary information and practical advice regarding the matter. Furthermore, with the use of this information animal welfare organizations can elaborate their network and strengthen their work in Europe” states Professor Vincenzo Caporale, Director of the Italian Institute.
In eight categories the user will find all kinds of information, such as the latest scientific veterinary publications, all information on dogs identification and registration, veterinary prevention, dog diseases, zoonoses, animal birth control techniques and dog population control planning, managing and evaluating tools, and last but not least, precise legal information on each Member State. This portal will be presented for the first time during the European Veterinary Week on 14 and 15 June 2010 in Brussels and launched in September 2010.
In addition to this issue VIER PFOTEN and IZS A&M will host a Conference: “Companion Animals’ Responsible Ownership of Dogs in Europe”, on 4 and 5 October 2010 in Brussels.
This conference, strongly focused on a sustainable EU wide common strategy in order to reduce the negative effects of dog overpopulation on human health and animal welfare, will be held soon after the “First International Conference on Animal Welfare Education”, announced by the EU Commission to take place on 1-2 October 2010, in Brussels.