Sometimes, catastrophe strikes the most undeserving! The Eurofurence charity this year is a story about exactly such a case. For the first time, Eurofurence is supporting a charity that we already had in the past. Some of you may still remember our lovely charity from Eurofurence 19, the animal rescue center Wildtierhilfe Fiel e.V.

The Wildtierhilfe Fiel is a registered, non-profit animal charity organized by the family Fußbahn. The main goals of this friendly charity are to take care of injured or orphaned wild animals of all sorts and nurse them back to health as well as to foster and nurture young animals and finally release them back to the wild. Especially hand-rearing the many baby animals is a very demanding job, requiring care and attention day and night. This is especially difficult since it is important that the animals do not get used to humans, so they can be returned to the wild.

At EF19 we raised a great amount of money for them, which was very much needed and helped to build a lot of new shelters and pay for food and veterinarian costs for all the many different animals they rescue, save and release into the wild during every year. Tears of happiness were shed when we announced the final amount on stage back then. Unfortunately, earlier this year, tears were shed again, but because of a great disaster that hit the Wildtierhilfe Fiel.

At the beginning of this year, the animal rescue center was hit by a very heavy storm, which destroyed about 80% of all shelters and enclosures.

Almost everything which they had built up, worked for and dedicated their lives to, was destroyed within a few hours! Luckily, most of the animals could be saved or returned to the Wildtierhilfe Fiel after the storm (which shows how much trust the animals have for them). And thankfully, Dirk and Rosi Fußbahn, the family running the Wildtierhilfe Fiel, received a lot of support from volunteers and donors, so they could find the mental strength to continue, and to start rebuilding everything. With donations, they were able to rebuild some of the enclosures, so they could already take care of animals in need again, which is essential and important throughout the entire year. They still need all the support they can get in order to continue to be able to pay for the food and veterinarian costs, and continue building up and improving the rest of the shelters. We unanimously decided that Eurofurence will be there for them again!

The large estate of the Wildtierhilfe Fiel is being used for the animals and their enclosures. The helpers raise and release about 1000 animals of all kinds into the wild each year. In addition, the trained veterinarian assistant Dirk Fußbahn answers phone calls round the clock, giving advice in emergencies or when an animal in need is found. The animal rescue is also taking in exotic animals that have been confiscated, abandoned or rescued from poor conditions. Exotic animals, such as apes, fennecs, raccoons, coatis, raccoon dogs, otters and other animals that cannot be returned to the wild any more will be accommodated for permanently in suitable enclosures. They also offer sponsorships for the different animals. Donations and sponsorships (paying a monthly amount of money to support an animal) are helping the charity being able to cover the costs of food, enclosures, veterinarian bills, etc. Furthermore, Wildtierhilfe Fiel e.V. works with schools and preschools to offer information and guided tours to teach children that animals are not toys, and to teach them how to act appropriately if they should find an injured or orphaned wild animal.

The non-profit organisation is being financed only by donations and support from friendly patrons of the animals, like for example food donations from nearby farmers. All money donated is being spent directly and only on the animals and their accommodation.

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Video report about the storm by NDR (German)
Video report about the storm by Stern TV (German)