Stray animals in Poland are not only a tragedy for dogs and cats, but also a lucrative business that, according to Doda, feeds on their suffering. Talk about so-called pato-shelters, where municipal invoices matter more than animal welfare, is growing louder.
Doda on abuses in shelters
Doda has for several weeks been drawing attention to abuses in some Polish shelters, especially private ones operating under municipal contracts. She points to a lack of water, food, heated kennels and basic veterinary care, even though local governments pay for the „upkeep” of every animal. In one of her programmes the artist says outright that animal homelessness has become a „huge business” from which people profit without real state oversight.
„At least 15 pato-shelters”
Doda estimates that Poland has at least a dozen or so pato-shelters, where basic standards are systematically broken. She points to the lack of regular, unannounced inspections, problems being swept under the carpet, and local arrangements that allegedly make it harder to respond to volunteers’ complaints.
How the stray-animal business works
The problem is not limited to one city – it is the result of how the system of funding animal care is designed. The municipality pays a private shelter a flat fee for each dog or cat, which, without supervision, rewards cutting spending on food, treatment and staff. In practice, the less is spent on each animal, the more stays in the shelter owner’s pocket.
An example chain of abuses may look like this:
- the municipality looks for the cheapest service provider,
- the private shelter „wins” with a dumping price,
- it cuts costs at the expense of care quality,
- animals spend years without leaving their pens, and are not neutered or treated.
Transports abroad – hope or grey zone?
A separate issue is dogs being sent abroad, which raises emotions and suspicions. In Ruda Śląska the shelter’s management had to answer accusations of sending dogs to Germany in poor conditions and without transparent adoption documentation. Similar controversies have arisen elsewhere too, where local communities asked who actually takes the dogs and on what terms.
Law lagging behind reality
The project „Stop chains, pseudo-breeding and animal homelessness” showed there is social consensus for tougher rules. It includes, among other things, a ban on selling puppies through online auction portals, mandatory registration of breeders and greater responsibility for organisations that supervise them. It is an attempt to close the grey zone in which thousands of dogs are born today, later ending up in shelters.
