About the Animal Home

Its founder, Ms Henriett Merza, when asked about her activity in the 1980s and 1990s, always fervently protested against being called a shelter. For her, and probably for the average Hungarian person as well, the notion of a dog shelter conjures up images of distressed dogs locked up in small kennels, waiting desperately for a miracle to happen: somebody releasing them from their prisons. In contrast, in Ms Merza’s “home”, located in the forest of Ócsa presented quite a different picture: a large, fenced-in area with a rustic farm house, with a great many kennels scattered around the place, and lots of waggly tailed dogs – big and small, male and female –all in the same place, together. There also were some smaller fenced-in kennels in which ill dogs could be separated, or those who were under rehabilitation process because of aggressive behavior toward the other dogs. Those dogs that got into Ms Merza’s care were either re-homed or became a forever-habitant of the Home. Ms Merza knew each of the approximately 300 dogs very well, named them after their special features, and treated them as if they were her own children.