A place where animals are truly treated the way they should be

Gut Aiderbichl Magyarország in Szépalmán is one of more than 30 properties that Gut Aiderbichl operates in throughout Europe in Austria, Germany, France, Romania, Switzerland and Hungary.

Szepalma property

Nearly 6,000 animals, which belong to 35 different animal species, are cared for according to species and with love until the end of their natural lives. However, not all animals can be helped by petting animals, “You have to deal with the motivating factors: people’s ignorance and indifference,” Michael Ofhauser knew from the very beginning, who advocated for animal rights before founding Gut Aiderbichl in 2001. It was owned by the Eszterházy family until it became Privately owned in 1994. In 2018 it became the property of the Gut Aiderbichl, and today it is the Center for Equine Competence. More than 100 horses, as well as gray cattle, mangalicas, goats, sheep and raka sheep on 50 hectares Gut Aiderbichl in Szépalm has pastures and about 130 hectares of hayfields, which are managed sustainably and according to the latest knowledge.

At Gut Aiderbichl, animals find a forever home until the natural end of their lives, which includes nearly 700 horses. Currently, more than 150 horses have reached the age of 25. Like the animal protection community, many horse owners also face the aging of their horses. Fundamentally, the needs and requirements of animals often change. To this end, the Quality of Life project has been set up in collaboration with the Swiss Sandgrueb Foundation, the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and the Vetsuisse College Zurich, part of which deals specifically with equine behaviour. The goal is to research and sustainably improve the quality of life of elderly and sick animals. Research is being done in part on the property of Sepalma. The results show that even small changes can significantly improve the animals’ quality of life. At the same time, efforts are underway to document and conserve the estate’s species richness and biodiversity.

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