Tags
adopting a dog in Geneva, adoption, animal shelter, animal shelter in Geneva, cat, dog, dog walking, rabbit
Lucky and Diego both have something in common. They live at the animal shelter Societé Protectrice des Animaux de Genève in Bernex. My daughter and I first visited the SGPA this past March on one of the four days they open their doors to the public and encourage people to take the dogs for walks.
Our first trip touched my heart in so many ways.
There were 36 dogs ready to be taken out for a walk. The photos posted at the entrance are of dogs big and small; mixed breeds and purebreds. It is difficult to understand how they arrive here, but they are victims of divorces, deaths, moves, bad decisions and in some cases saved from abusive owners and other shelters.
On this rainy Sunday afternoon it seemed as if there would be enough people to walk all the dogs. There were families with small children, young couples, single people and groups with their own pets who wanted to bring a shelter dog along for their afternoon walk. Identity cards were exchanged for dogs and every dog -but one- raced out the building with a smiling person in tow.
Lucky Lu is 10 years old, a shepherd/ hunting mix and loved running with my daughter.
Some folks came to look at dogs to adopt but this is done on other days. The process of adopting a dog, or any other animal, is taken very seriously at SGPA. Adopters are encouraged to consider the impact on their life of this new union and to spend time with their potential new pet in order to ensure that their personalities are compatible. If for any reason the adopter wants to return the animal, the SGPA will take it back without any questions or judgments.
The facility at SGPA is large. Not only do they house dogs but there are cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and I happened to see an enormous rat in a large cage. It should be said that SGPA does not euthanize their residents. In order to maintain healthy and happy animals they have veterinarians on hand as well as animal trainers. I imagine this is financially costly but, according to their website, the SPGA does not receive any subsidies from the Etats de Genève. The organization is run on donations, bequests and many volunteers.
Diego is a 4 1/2 year-old Malinois. He melts under your touch. He loves to be petted and scratched.
My own mother thought it was risky for me to take my animal-crazed daughter to walk a dog. Due to the amount of travel our family does in the year, I know that a dog is not a feasible option in our household. On the other hand, we can appreciate and support the work that the SGPA is doing for abandoned animals.
If you would like to help the Societé Protectrice des Animaux de Genève, there are many ways:
- Adopt an animal if you are considering a new pet (Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 14:00-17:00).
- Walk a dog (Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays 14:00-17:00).
- Donate CHF 40 a year –it is tax deductible and you will receive the SPGA magazine in French.
- Give cat and small animal food.
- Give animal baskets, small-animal cages, blankets and towels.
For more information you can visit their website at http://www.sgpa.ch/.
We are a group of international women living in Geneva, Switzerland. If you would like to join the AIWC, please visit our website at http://www.aiwcgeneva.org/.
Living In Geneva 
Hi there, first I would like to say thank you for the information.. I am pretty surprised that actually there is “walk a dog” activity offered in Geneva * I thought it’s only a rumor*. By any chance, do you know if there will be some charges for having the walk a dog activity? or maybe they have some regulation? I visited the SPGA website already.. but I could not really understand french 😦
Hestia, I am so sorry I have not responded to your comment! There are no charges. The only restriction is that you must be over 18 years old. Furthermore, they hold your identity card during the walk in order to ensure that you bring the dog back. I hope you can go some time. It really is a nice activity.
Warm regards, Alpenhorn
Hi me and my friend are 12 years old but we want to walk a dog is there any possibility that we could if we have an adult with us?
Aarthi, officially your adult would be walking the dog. And you would receive one dog per adult. I am sure you will love the experience and the dog would love having you there, too. They need that human attention and touch.