“Hooray, we’re still alive!
Tollisan – The Never Ending Story!

Everything is changing. Standing still means falling behind. Movement is necessary in order not to lose touch.

Tollisan founder Manfred Tihen (Germany) always acted according to this principle. It was no coincidence that Manfred Tihen was, body and soul, a pigeon breeder, a long-time manager, and a key executive of the supermarket chain Allkauf, which was later taken over by Metro AG.

In 2001, Johannes Jakobs took over the racing pigeon company Tollisan. Trained as a banker and with 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical field sales, he knew exactly what needed to be done to lead the company and prepare it for the future. The company headquarters were moved to Kerkrade (Netherlands), and together with veterinarian Vincent Schroeder, more successful years followed for Tollisan. Johannes is always on the move, opening up all European racing pigeon markets for Tollisan, as well as important markets outside Europe such as Morocco, China, the USA, and more. Brand names were created that are now known to everyone in pigeon racing: Med. Tollyamin Forte, Nano Tollyamin, Dosto Oregano, Tollisol… In 2024, a new large company building was constructed to handle logistical challenges and storage problems. After 25 years under the leadership of Johannes Jakobs, Tollisan has developed into one of the largest racing pigeon companies in the world.

However, as the Bible already tells us:
Seven fat years are usually followed by seven lean years!

Everything is changing, including at Tollisan. The last two years have not been easy for Tollisan. In 2025, Christel Peters and Ludo Thijs left the company. In 2026, veterinarian Vincent Schroeder will also leave Tollisan, although this had already been stipulated in his employment contract long ago. Everyone received generous severance packages, no one can complain, and everything happened by mutual agreement. You should not hold back those who wish to move on. Everything is changing, and only looking forward helps.

Excellent new professionals are joining the Tollisan team. In 2025, Ilse Verstraeten moved from the company Comed to Tollisan. She is the CEO of Tollisan, as well as the responsible pharmacist and a specialist in regulation and registration. She also specializes in the import and export of medicines. All registrations for racing pigeon medicines that we have applied for pass across her desk. One thing is certain: in the future, only registered racing pigeon products will be available in the Netherlands, as required by European legislation. The relaxed distribution of medications that existed in pigeon sport in the Netherlands for years is over. Movement is necessary in order not to lose touch.

Ilse Verstraeten is the person keeping Tollisan moving and enabling us to keep up with registered products. Registering a branded product for racing pigeons costs around €250,000 in countries such as Germany, Belgium, or the Netherlands, and takes about two years. It is somewhat cheaper in Eastern European countries. The documents and paperwork required to register around 15 branded products would fill a shipping container and require highly specialized knowledge to manage. Ilse Verstraeten brings this expertise to Tollisan.

In spring 2026, Dirk Moens joins us as the new veterinarian. He has more than 30 years of experience as a racing pigeon veterinarian and is himself a passionate pigeon breeder.

Dirk is a third-generation breeder. His father already won the 1st National Prize from Pau (850 km) in Belgium, and Dirk himself achieved a national victory from Bourges (450 km) with yearlings against more than 33,000 pigeons. He is always available to provide advice and support and takes a great deal of time for personal consultations with his customers.

Dirk Moens is the new pigeon specialist at Tollisan. Appointments, as always, are made by telephone arrangement. In the future, required fecal samples at Tollisan will be processed using PCR testing based on DNA analysis. At a very competitive price, a single fecal sample will be enough to test for trichomonads, E. coli, salmonella, and chlamydia using PCR testing. Our veterinarian Dirk Moens enthusiastically oversees this unique analysis process.

Tollisan is excellently prepared for everything to come and, despite all the changes, will not lose touch. However, movement is necessary for that. Johannes Jakobs is now 70 years old, and with time some replacement parts in the body become necessary. In addition to the usual tablets for cholesterol, blood pressure, heart, and stomach issues, he currently also needs some painkillers while awaiting planned knee surgery. A hip replacement has already been completed. Johannes comments:
‘The important thing is that the head still works well!’

Johannes’ racing performance remains outstanding, even though there is hardly any time left for the pigeons. Just as in the old dissolved Regional Association 415, there are also some breeders in the new Regional Association 406 who are unhappy about competing on the same lists as pigeon breeder Johannes. He can actually understand that very well.

For years, Johannes tried to push for changes within the association, such as allowing individual breeders to withdraw from the RV ranking list and appear only on the next higher-level list. But the fact that he himself is denied participation in the next higher-level list (flight community) makes him quite angry, and then he may occasionally come out with a remark like this:

‘Instead of always buying Pampers, some people should get better pigeons or take better care of the pigeons they already have. How can anyone improve if they don’t compete against the best on the big lists?’”