Connection. Responsibility.

Living with a dog teaches you something that also sustains Rotary: taking responsibility, building relationships, making a quiet difference. The dog is not only a companion. The dog is a mirror, a teacher, and a social bridge-builder.

With our new “Mensch und Hund” cause-based club — “Human and Hound” — the German-speaking Rotary world gains, for the first time, a club that takes this dual role seriously: a community of committed members who see in the dog far more than a hobby.

Why we are founding this club

More than ten million dogs live in Germany, in more than one of every five households. Behind each of these dogs stands a person who carries responsibility. Behind many of these dogs also stands a social challenge: overcrowded shelters, illegal puppy trafficking, harmful breeding practices, traumatized rescue dogs from abroad, and overwhelmed families.

At the same time, the dog is the most accessible animal in therapy, education, and social work. From the reading dog in elementary school to the therapy dog in dementia care to the assistance dog for people with disabilities: where words fall short, a dog can build the bridge.

We believe that those who understand dogs better understand people. Those who take responsibility for an animal practice responsibility for a community. From that belief, we are building a Rotary club.

What we do

Our work rests on three pillars.

• Effective support for animal welfare: We back reputable animal welfare organizations with donations, expertise, and visibility — established shelters, therapy dog initiatives, and education against illegal puppy trafficking and harmful breeding.
• Education and awareness: We host webinars, lectures, and events for Rotarians and the wider public. Topics range from species-appropriate dog ownership and modern learning theory to the human-dog relationship as a model for communication. Proceeds flow into vetted animal welfare projects.
• A bridge into society: We bring the dog to where it heals — into schools for empathy education and reading support, into senior living communities, into inclusion projects, and to food bank programs. We build on classic Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact projects and extend them through the medium of the dog.

What makes us distinctive

The Rotary Club Mensch & Hund pairs classic Rotary fellowship with modern, professionally rigorous collaboration:

• science-based and force-free in our approach to the animal — we explicitly reject dominance theory, prong collars, and any aversive methods
• hybrid and trans-regional — online meetings every two weeks, complemented by in-person gatherings at varied locations, from animal shelters to professional conferences
• open to members across the entire German-speaking world
• actively networked with other cause-based clubs: Mental Health (the dog as co-regulator), Living Democracy (the dog as empathy agent), Equestrian Sports (kindred animal-ethics profile), Elementary Education (reading-dog programs), and Holidays for Children (the dog as part of the KidsCamp learning experience).

What we offer — and whom we are looking for

We welcome people who see dogs not as a pastime but as part of how they understand the world: dog owners, trainers, veterinarians, behavioral biologists, animal welfare advocates, therapy dog handlers, ethical breeders, dog journalists, and entrepreneurs in the canine sector — alongside Rotarians who know that a society’s treatment of its animals reveals a great deal about its treatment of its people.

We are looking forward to meeting:

• new members who want to engage substantively
• patrons from veterinary medicine, behavioral biology, and animal ethics
• supporters and donors who wish to sustain our educational and animal welfare projects

District

Home district: D 1860. Initiator and driving force is Ralph Kühnl, District Public Image Chair D 1860, member of the Rotary Club of Mannheim and §11 TierSchG-certified dog trainer.