We are mourning the loss of our FOUR PAWS Founder and President, Heli Dungler, who died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, 5th of January. His death is a severe blow for us and fills us with great pain. Our thoughts and our deepest sympathies are with his family during these difficult hours.

Heli Dungler was born in 1963 in Waidhofen an der Thaya in Lower Austria. In 1984, he started his career with Greenpeace, Austria. During this time, he nurtured a desire to actively promote animal welfare. In 1988, he founded the animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS in Vienna and initially focused on animal protection issues such as fur farming, battery farms and circus animals. For decades, through negotiations with decision-makers around the world, he campaigned for higher animal welfare standards in agriculture, for legislative changes in the keeping of brown bears and for the protection of big cats and stray animals.

Thanks to his tireless work, FOUR PAWS is today one of the largest global animal welfare organisations, represented in 15 countries and revealing suffering, rescuing animals in need and protecting them worldwide. Through his passion and tireless efforts, FOUR PAWS has been able to save the lives of many thousands of animals.

With Heli Dungler’s death, the world has lost a very special animal lover and visionary. We will honor his memory by continuing the work he loved so much, in his spirit.

While we all try to say goodbye to Heli, we think back to the many moments he brought smiles to our faces with his courage, his dedication or simply with his humour. We will honour Heli's memory by continuing the work he loved so much.

We would also like to thank you for the warm sympathies and the moving comments about Heli.