Not a single dog is being adopted from one of the animal shelters in Debrecen for the time being, because it has been found that the majority of those interested only want to take a dog away from them in order to be exempted from the curfew. They fear that most of the animals so adopted will return to them after the epidemic.
Alexandra Csige, the head of the shelter, told RTL Híradó:
You can’t get a dog out of here while this epidemic is still going on. We can’t give dogs for adoption in such a way that we can’t be sure whether or not they will be back after the virus situation is over. This is because 99 percent of these adopters say that they only want a dog now to be exempted from the curfew.
The curfew lasts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but dogs can be walked within 500 meters of our residence (but no other animals). The 500 meters can be checked with an application.
Éva Novák, head of the Animal Friendly Foundation’s shelter, said there was a huge interest in dogs, and most callers admit that they just need a loyal companion to circumvent the curfew.