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About us
The Hellhound Foundation- a place for dogs in need of protection and help
The Hellhound Foundation is a non-profit organization, which is trying to help humans work with behavior disordered and problematic dogs by giving advice and support.
Located in Lower Saxony in a small town called “Bispingen” our Hellhounds can enjoy the quiet landside. For many of our visitors the close connection to the Freeway, as well as the short ways to Soltau (approx. 26 km /17 MI) and Hamburg (approx. 54 km/ 34 MI) are important.
Name and logo – dark and intimidating?
Most of our inhabitants fell from grace because of their bad behavior, bite attacks or for not being house-trained. They are extremely bark enthusiastic, neglected, scared and sometimes nearly fanatic in their attitude. Like that they created a hell on earth for their owners or had to go through one because of others. Every single one of them has its one history, which made them who they are.
With the slightly provoking name “Hellhound Foundation” and the intimidating logo, we want to evoke interest, educate and maybe show how to rethink. Most of the dogs are often the victim, but at the same time the origin of danger, so it is our responsibility to sensitize affected owners in the necessary ways.
The Evil is not only found on one end of the leash and not every snarling dog is ready to fight.
Why a gUg and what is that exactly?
I (Vanessa) chose the legal form of a non-profit entrepreneurial company, which is shortened in German to gUg, at the time of creating the Foundation. My decision was influenced by my approximately 15 years’ worth of training with problematic dogs out of the so-called animal welfare.
During those years I got to know many examples for organizations which focused on internal disputes in the management, between members or directors and leaving the animals just badly supplied. The work with excessive aggression on top needs physically and mentally stable humans, who care deeply about the daily conflicts and managing the dogs stationed with us every day.
So, in the best case scenario the Management Board needs to consist of seven professional and competent people, who are themselves working at the institution to know what is needed and how the individual dogs are developing. Because the dogs are the main point, on whom the focus is needed for the whole concept of the association. That’s utopic and for me too complicated to be honest, because humans, well, are humans… The work is risky and most of the time you are left alone in the wild with tasks, which are turned down by regular animal protection institutions and get labeled as not to manage or hopeless. Sometimes quick decisions are needed, because the case is about a dog half an hour away from euthanasia. A completely integrated management could be able to decide swift enough, though reality often paints a different picture: the 7 members of the board are most of the time doing this voluntarily and are working different jobs in their main time, thereby being harder to herd than a bag of fleas. Most of the time one doesn’t know about the mental condition of the other, when a harsh reply is sent to the group chat and in this way there is neither a focus on the people or the animals. Fatal, considering that through this association dogs with behavioral problems should be transferred into new homes.
A different approach is to let all decisions be made by the animal shelter management. Difficult decisions, management and the blame, if something goes wrong – not my cup of tea either.
Of course, the life as a manager is not the yellow of the egg because you need a thick skin and an ass that is wider than the door BUT self-imposed misery is better than to endure that of 6 others on top of it. The important thing is to have your goals in front of your eyes and to implement those with your own team.
Formally a gUg is build similar to an unincorporated association (in Germany known as e.V.). One is able to generate donations and document those accordingly with donation receipts. Instead of a statue, we have a shareholder agreement, which must be checked by a notary and recognized by the tax office. We have to write annual reports, have a proper accounting and hold shareholder meetings.
The cause was just to avoid the emotional opinion mash of 7 chefs to be able to put the pedal to the metal.
The foundation is mostly dependent on donations and is supported by me with workshops, seminars and training with dog owners, trainers, authorities and animal caretakers.
Who wants to support us can do this here:
Donation account:
Hellhound Foundation gUG (haftungsbeschränkt)
IBAN: DE43 2404 0000 0150 9843 00
BIC: COBADEFFXXX
Bank: COMMERZBANK
PayPal: info@hellhound-foundation.com