Griekenland |Greece

Greece - Corfu Dogs

The situation for animals in Corfu is as bad as in other parts of Greece; that is to say, terrible. The Greek mind set towards animals is definitely third world. Animals are not respected, they are only used as tools (for hunting or guarding) and discarded when not acceptable.  Even those Greeks who supposedly like dogs usually do not know how to look after their animals and can't be bothered to learn.

 I became involved in animal rescue because I live in a tourist resort and every summer beautiful, sweet-natured dogs were abandoned on the street, fed by tourists and poisoned after the season by the locals. After seeing this for years and years I could no longer turn my back. I own a large piece of land near Lefkimmi, Corfu and about 10 years ago decided to start a refuge there.  It has grown and grown. Last winter we had more than 80 dogs. I do not believe that sending dogs abroad will solve the problem. In the past I tried very hard to educate people about sterilisation and respect for animals but in the end felt that I was banging my head against the wall and expending energy that I could better use to save individual lives, if nothing else. So this is what I concentrate on; nearly all of my dogs go to German organisations.  

I look at my shelter as a temporary safety net for the dogs; it is not my aim to keep them forever and I am always very happy to see them go to Germany. I know they have a chance there; here in Greece they have absolutely none. Also when a dog leaves me it makes room for another rescue; I so wish I could help them all! But saying that, I do have a number of permanent residents that are not rehomeable. Once I have taken a dog I am responsible for it and do not euthanize animals unless they are aggressive or incurably ill and suffering. Marjorie Pandi.

Website
www.corfudogs.org

Greece - Cretan Donkey Care

Greece - Walk with donkeys Crete

Greece - EreSOS

EreSOS is a Non for Profit Organisation under Greek law.  It is a response to a demand for structural help for animals that need help. Eresos, located on the Greek island Lesvos, is the birthplace of the famous Greek poet Sappho. It is a heavenly spot, in the summer visited by many tourists. But like anywhere else, also here in Eresos, again and again situations occur where we can’t look away, but are summoned to let our hearts speak and take action. Many of us (tourists and those who live here) find animals in distress. The question however is: what happens then? The tourists fly back, sometimes they take a pet with them, but in many cases the animals stay  in Eresos, where they need food and often medical care - especially in the winter, when all the guests are gone and the village is like a ghosttown. The animals are taken care of and often fostered. However, of course, the final goal is:  a good life for every animal, here in Eresos or elsewhere.
The care for the animals in and around Eresos consisted of heartwarming, but unorganized and impulsive actions from tourists and (mainly non-local) residents of the village.

Stray cats and dogs were fed, and more than once, tourists took puppies, strays and chaindogs to a new, happier destination.

In 2002 Gerbien Fricke started fostering and rehoming dogs. Through the years, the legendary SapphoHotel had become the refuge for countless cats... and Villa GaGa changed in a true doghotel... It was obvious that the help needed to be coordinated

In March 2005, the non-for-profit-organisation EreSOS for Animals  was founded, after a journey through Greek bureaucracy. In the meantime, Ann and Jean had entered the stage.  They are the heart of the "Sanctuary", where since the purchase of a piece of land most of the dogs are sheltered. They are supposed to be in the pound...but there are always exeptions... As we get more widely known, we obviously get more guests, that's why we had to make a preliminary‘kindergarten’ There is a small operation room (that desperately needs to be expanded…) where the animals are treated and operations like castrations take place. For vets, who come to help us, we provide free accommodation. We thank our loyal Austrian vets Eva & Annemarie - and all volunteers, without whom we wouldn't know what we'd do. We fight a never ending battle against the local tradition,  that assumes that dogs must be on a chain and hardly need any food...  this bitch had a broken leg, but was too weak to be transported.  She was already dying - we put an end to her misery. But not just dogs are often all skin and bone... Mr Ed was left at the Sanctuary, we took him to Villa GaGa, where he spent his last days together with the other horses. He died in the summer of 2007. we find many kittens with awful eye infections  And... several times per year some of the locals think, the best way to solve the "catproblem" is poison, the cats (and often dogs) die a gruesome death.  Often we find in bins or by the side of the road plastic bags with newborn pups or kittens – living garbage... That's why we want to show that there are different ways  - and we offer alternatives: we organise castrations to contain the population.

Website
www.eresosforanimals.com

Greece - Lesbian Wildlife Hospital

The Lesbian Wildlife Hospital is an Animal-Hospital specialized in Wild Animals/Birds on the Greek island of Lesvos.
This island is situated under the Turkish coast in the Eastern Aegean Sea. The island has a surface of 1630 km² and has a coast-line of approximately 370 km.

Who are they and what are they doing?
Joris and Ineke are enthusiastic animal-lovers, who created this animal hospital on own initiative. Their aim is to lessen animal-suffering.

Goals: Treatment of injured, shot, ill, wild animals/birds and releasing them on a save
place in nature after rehabilitation. The intention is that animals/birds should be kept as wild as possible. (A few examples: birds of prey, owls, tortoises, reptiles etc.)
First aid to pets and strays. There is no shelter, so the animals cannot be kept.

Website
http://www.wildlifeoplesbos.net/gb/index.php

Greece - Skiathos Cats

My husband Peter and I began 5 years ago adopting kittens, most of which were found; in plastic bags in garbage bins, at the side of garbage bins, dumped at our stray cat feeding site, thrown over our perimeter fence,abandoned in the boat yard, left outside out gate in boxes.  The first two we took on we were able to take to the mainland to get neutered, then after several hundreds of euro's and many trips to the mainland for this purpose, at 110 euro per cat was getting out of hand, so that is when we got in touch with Greek Animal Welfare Society who from then on began sending voluntary vets about 4 times each winter, this was much better and was able to start asking the locals to get involved with neutering.  This was a good start as many locals have now began adopting cats and kittens know the fact that there will be vet visiting at a much reduced rate to get their cats/kittens neutered.  Our cat neutering database (for want of a better word) as quadrupled over the last 3 years.  We also provide on and of site basic medical care/treatment, however we are not vets, just everything by experience.  Through the summer we get many calls from tourists who have been feeding kittens during their visit and now feel guilty that they are leaving them to fend for themselves.  I have to make it clear to them that we are not a cat sanctuary, we have no purpose made building for taking in cats which are in perfect healthy because as you can imagine we would have many hundreds of cats.  This is not possible.  We have managed to get the tourists to leave messages for the next visitors to feed them and in doing so these kittens will be about 4 - 5 months old and will more than likely be able to fend for themselves during the winter.  We are on call 365 days a year for assistance and help not matter what time of day or night it may be.  Our, when funds allow, is to build a fully equipped small vet room, the room will contain areas for vets to work, recovery area, (as cats at the moment are placed on our veranda to recovery, which in winter is not good for the cat), so when it is extremely cold I have to bring them into our guest room, not practical.  This room must also have a small isolation area, because at the moment cats which are very sick have to be kept in our guest bathroom because I do not want the onsite cats to catch anything from them until we know what the problem is, again not practical.  I also do cat care services during the winter, as many locals go back to their mainland homes, England, Holland, States, Greece and do not have anyone to take care of their cats so they are taken on site, (thus saving me going to and from different homes all day) and taken care of until their return.  I am trying to complete our website, facebook and MySpace within the next few weeks, as this is the only way to received funds from outside Skiathos.  During the winter I organise fundraising events for each month, does not bring alot of money, as you are hitting the same people everytime, but it is worth it. Apart from our now 90 on site cats we also have 4 dogs from the rescue centre. 


Website
www.skiathos-cats.org

Stray Commons Tessaloniki

Vocal of the Cats Allicance  - Crete

Click on the photos to go to the photo album of the shelter.