It was the market and carriage horses that contributed to the founding of the Bremerhaven Animal Welfare Organisation. On 22 November 1922, the married couple Nelli and Walter Haas, together with 16 fellow campaigners, decided to stand up for these maltreated animals and the overworked horses in the sand lorries. They built a stable in Auerstraße in which 12 horses could be cared for. Initially, however, they were not only met with approval - they were met with ridicule and scorn. Animal welfare inspections even had to be carried out under police protection at the time.

The stable was destroyed during the war. Despite all the resistance, the members continued to bravely stand by the animals, rebuilt the barn and expanded it - now cats could also be taken in. In 1957, a new animal shelter was built on Wurster Straße. Now many more animals could find a home. Some even found homes all by themselves: mum cat Britt gradually dragged her babies into the new home, thus ensuring the unofficial opening. In addition to cats, dogs, birds and rodents were now also cared for. In the meantime, the organisation had grown to over 300 members and the number of people who wanted to help and do good kept increasing. Today, the organisation has reached the magic number of 1000 members, who make donations of all kinds to ensure that the animals are well cared for.

However, the animal species and their needs also became increasingly diverse. In 2012, the decision was made to build a new animal shelter on Vieländer Weg. The opening was celebrated in 2020. The centre is now not only home to dogs, cats, birds and rabbits, but also turtles, chickens and hedgehogs. And there will also be a horse stable again - after it all began 100 years ago.