The National Food Chain Office (NÉBIH) has released its new, free, publication “Adopt me” (Fogadj örökbe!) that is meant to provide comprehensive assistance on the adoption of dogs to future owners thinking responsibly. The booklet is freely downloadable from the “Szabad a gazdi” campaign website, and animal shelters and dog pounds may also request it in printed format.

This latest element of the Szabad a gazdi programme of NÉBIH was presented by Róbert Zsigó, Minister of State for Food Chain Supervision at the shelter of Misina Természet- és Állatvédő Egyesület in Pécs. The Minister of State of AM highlighted at the event that the publication fitted into a comprehensive government programme active for years, focussing on the dissemination and promotion of responsible pet ownership. At the same time, it is a priority objective that responsible owners decide in favour of adoption, as there is an enormous number of dogs waiting for being adopted at shelters or dog pounds.

It may be an essential chain link of the development of domestic livestock culture to improve the situation of stray animals and to make more and more animal-loving people decide in favour of adoption. The new publication of NÉBIH guides prospective dog owners through the process of adoption in the spirit that one can learn to become a responsible owner.

Adopt me offers useful practical advice to owners deciding to give a home and love to an orphaned animal. It describes in detail the initial steps, such as the criteria to be taken into consideration to choose an ideal four-legged companion, one whose needs we can really satisfy. The legal conditions of adopting a dog, the costs of keeping are also covered, and there are advices to facilitate living together.

The volume is feely downloadable from the NÉBIH Szabad a gazdi programme website. Moreover, animal shelters and dog pounds may also request printed copies from the Office.

“Szabad a gazdi” (Available owners) programme

Szabad a gazdi programme promoting responsible animal ownership is the awareness raising programme of the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Food Chain Office (NÉBIH). Its main goal is to encourage future owners to adopt and neuter rather than purchase pets. The programme shares useful advice and interesting pieces of information on its website, in the form of quiz games, for example, and organises also its own events. The programme staff disseminate information at national exhibitions in a playful way. The campaign is a permanent “participant” also of the annual Dog Festival in Downtown Budapest (Belvárosi Kutyafesztivál).

(AM Press Office)