It sounds like a bad joke, but it's true: nine-year-old hunting dog Urax vom Paradies, who lives in Munich, has received a letter. The sender: the ARD and ZDF contribution service - the institution that used to be notorious under the name GEZ. The content of the letter: Urax is asked to state whether he has radio equipment - and if so, to pay broadcasting fees. Yes, you read that right: A dog should pay television license fees.
Yet Urax has neither a television nor a car radio. Not even a car. And why should he? He is a Hungarian Shorthair, a passionate hunting dog - and not a media consumer.
The Urax "operating site": a hunting ground without WLAN
The mishap apparently began with Urax's own homepage. His owner, Jutta Zedelmaier, had created a website for her faithful four-legged friend - including an imprint with her address. Urax used to be a popular stud dog. He has since retired, but the website has remained online for nostalgic reasons.
Presumably this publicly accessible data made the Beitragsservice prick up its ears - or rather: led it on the wrong track. The authorities probably thought: website = company = permanent establishment = obligation to pay contributions. But this calculation does not work for Urax.
Zedelmaier responded with humor: "My dog Urax assured me credibly that he doesn't run a company." He doesn't receive radio and he doesn't own a car either - because he doesn't have a driver's license. She charmingly packaged her reply to the Beitragsservice in a registered letter, which has since caused a lot of laughter online.
Not an isolated case: Nanuk should also pay
Urax is not an isolated case. Nanuk vom Veybach, a German Longhair from North Rhine-Westphalia, also received a similar letter. He is also a former stud dog with his own website and not a media fan either. It is slowly becoming clear that the Beitragsservice is apparently specifically searching through imprint details - and four-legged friends with an online presence are also being targeted.
It's no secret that the Beitragsservice compares masses of data. But this glitch shows that the system is reaching its limits - especially when it targets four-legged friends who neither watch TV nor listen to podcasts. The Urax case is rather harmless, but sheds an oblique light on the methods used to collect data.
GEZ madness on four paws
What remains is the realization that even a hunting dog with a quiet pensioner's existence is not safe from bureaucracy. Even though Urax prefers tracking down deer to listening to the radio, GEZ mail is now fluttering into his basket. The contribution service has apparently lost its way in the thicket of data - and is meeting with growing derision online.
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