“Be careful, cat catcher!”
That's the title of the advertisement in the "Animal Market" section, and the rest of the text warns about white vans in the Lüchow-Dannenberg area (Lower Saxony).
We also call for help: “In order to stop these criminal activities, we need further information, which will of course be treated confidentially.” – It is not clear from the text who “we” are. A phone number is provided that seems plausible. A user also reported that the number existed, but no one would pick up.
Warnings from animal rights activists
Such warnings keep circulating on social media and are widely shared. After all, no one wants helpless animals to be stolen or captured. That's why the overriding thought here is: "If I share this now, there will be no harm. Even if it’s not true.”
In fact, we reported on such warnings back in 2015. You can find our article about it HERE .
And it has already happened remarkably often that criminals travel in white vans. Not only should animals be on their “to do list”, but there are often warnings that they are in front of kindergartens or schools in order to approach children and take them with them. – A horror idea for parents or even pet owners.
The facts
Since the newspaper advertisement does not indicate who is calling for help, it loses its official character. Authorities such as the police or animal protection organizations would communicate their names.
We can find the advertisement in Kiebitz (issue from May 25, 2022) . However, anyone can place an ad here, which is possible for a few euros. So we are dealing with an anonymous ad from which it is not possible to determine who is behind it. The telephone number is also not useful.
When we asked the police we received the following answer:
“Hello from the press office in Lüneburg,
after research and inquiries to our colleagues in the Lüchow-Dannenberg region, we are not aware of any relevant facts.
There were no similar circumstances in the past or they were an absolutely isolated case.
We are now sensitized to whoever is spreading relevant information about the lapwing.
Greetings to the Mimikama team from LGer Heide”
Various media reports on the disappearance of cats are also several years old. There is currently nothing here.
We cannot currently confirm that there are cat abductions or a noticeable increase in the disappearance of house cats in the Lüchow-Dannenberg area.
And the white van beckons forever
White vans with animal or child catchers are a classic scare mongering, as they have been neither confirmed nor refuted for years
Of course, we do not generally want to classify warnings as “void” from the outset. The concern is that because of the numerous unconfirmed warnings, no one will take anything seriously when they talk about a white van. Therefore, if you have any suspicions, you should definitely contact the police. Distributing them on social media or placing them in an anonymous advertisement in regional media is not the most sensible approach.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )