Marie and Ellen visit animal shelter in ‘De Verhulstjes’: ‘I already had to cry with the second dog’

The Verhulstjes

“I’ll take all the dogs home for the same price,” Ellen jokes when she and Marie are in the car. “One for you, one for me and one for Vik.” Marie doesn’t think that’s a bad plan at all: “I want a dog anyway. The day I have a garden is the day a dog comes.”

“The image I have of an animal shelter is very sad. In my head, those are dark, dirty cages, with all kinds of sad, aggressive abandoned animals,” Marie admits. Fortunately, this shelter does not meet these expectations. They are very happy with the collars, leashes and toys that the ladies bring and as a thank you they are allowed to take a look at the dogs. “I’m not allowed to take one home,” Ellen says to animal shelter worker Pascal who takes them outside.

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Animal shelter

Pascal says that all cages are occupied at the moment and gives some extra explanation here and there when they stop by a dog. The signs on the cages also state the names of the animals and how they ended up in the shelter. When Marie and Ellen read Angel’s information, they are shocked. “The second dog we saw, hanging from a tree, made me cry,” says Marie.

Ellen is also upset: “You don’t understand that, do you? Left on a tree. That animal can’t leave, it’s stuck.” It makes the women angry that people treat their animals this way. Marie: “You take an animal into your home, it cannot take care of itself and puts its fate in your hands and you tie it to a tree?! Incomprehensible.”