On Saturday 26 June at 8pm, protests
against dog and cat poisoning were held concurrently all over
Greece.We received reports from many supporters
saying how well their particular protest march went.The photo was taken in Aegina and
meetings were held with the local authorities and the police
during the following week in order to discuss the problem
further.Let's hope that this is the first very
important step for the law against poisoning to actually be
imposed and not ignored.
2010 Charity Dog Show
An Example of what we receive on a daily basis.
This
little dog was found on Friday.The house in Athens was empty - everyone had
moved out but they didn't take the little dog. Just left
him chained up to die on the end of a chain.Fortunately, a kind person heard him whimpering
and a colleague climbed the wall and rescued him.He was, as you can see, badly matted and starving
but is now doing well
New Years Day Dog Walk 2010
We are very grateful to Jan Smith
for organising the unofficial dog walk on New Year's Day at
Hengistbury Head.It was a beautiful, sunny day but
bitterly cold.We had lots of families join in and everyone,
including the dogs of course, enjoyed it thoroughly.It is always so nice to see the Greek dogs with
their families, especially Afaia who was visiting from her home
in Ireland.
Annual Christmas Fair 2009
The annual Xmas Fair was again a
huge success.The weather had been dreadful all week but the
sun shone on us that morning.Mark and 3 Greek dogs stayed outside in the shopping
precinct to attract customers inside and the photo shows the
dogs Luna (from Thassos) and Giovanni with Woody (from Aegina)
Charity Auction 14th November 2009
Once again our
Patron, Paul Martin, did a fantastic job as auctioneer.
There were
around 150 guests who generously placed bids on 160 lots.The Meridien Milano car showroom was a stunning
venue and the evening was a huge success.The range of donated lots was incredibly wide,
from holidays, a Ferrari test drive, a signed Chelsea shirt,
bottles of wines and spirits, pictures and commissions and even
a Paul O'Grady nodding dog!
Charity Dog Walk 20th September 2009
The weather
was perfect for this year's dog walk on 20 September and around
120 dogs joined in.It was particularly wonderful to see so
many of the Greek dogs that we had homed.Paul Martin, our Patron, took part with
his family and their dogs Bluebell and Diesel and we are very
grateful for his ongoing support.It was also a great pleasure to welcome
Jim and Elizabeth from Aegina who knew many of the dogs from
when they were in the shelter there.They really enjoyed seeing the dogs in such a
totally different environment and all looking so happy.
Summer Garden Party - August 2009
The recent summer garden party was
a great success and everyone thoroughly enjoyed tea and home
made cakes on a beautiful sunny day in Bournemouth.
Spyros joined in and thought the
cake was great too
Ellingham Show - August 2009
We had a great
day at the Ellingham Show on 8 August and the sun shone all day.The last two years had been really wet so this
was a real treat!We were up bright and early, well
perhaps not too bright, at 5.30am as the show opened to the
public at 8.30am.We had two big gazebos with tables covered by no
less than 350 tombola prizes.Our Greek dogs Luna and Giovanni worked hard all
day to pull in the supporters and we had a queue of people all
day waiting to spend their money with us.The show didn't close until 6pm so, by the time
we packed up and got home we were only fit to get a 'take-away'
and go to bed!It was, though, a very worthwhile event.
Another Dog Hanged – this
time in Crete
I am so sad to hear
that another dog has been hanged in Greece.It was discovered by a Dutch tourist and I have
seen the very harrowing photographs from Exomouliana, Crete.He complained to the Greek Ministry of Tourism and he
received the ‘standard’ reply letter.I am quoting it because it is SO UNBELIEVABLE!
‘With
reference to your email, we would like to inform you that our
country acknowledges it’s moral and legal obligation for the
treatment and management of stray animals.For this purpose has adopted and enacted a legislative
framework targeting the animal protection and reduction of stray
animals.The
guidelines of this management consists of their registration,
veterinary examination, deparasitation, vaccination and their
sterilization as well as provision of veterinary care in case of
illness of injury.
Their return to the place they have been collected or for
adoption, excluding their enclosure in asylums, respecting of
animals rights associations.We would like to assure you that isolated incidences of
stray animal’s bad treatment can not put in question our
country’s continues efforts to protect them and improve their
life conditions.’
Well, I
have never read such rubbish and several of us are doing our
utmost to get this into the media, including the television.
Latest Arrivals - August 2009
(More Happy Arrivals Below)
I am pleased to say that Robert
has recently arrived from Halkida and is happily settling in
with us and our other two Greek dogs.He is progressing every day and playing with Luna from
Thassos.He certainly loves
his new bed which is a far cry from his old kennel in Halkida
Robert in his 'kennel' in Halkida & Now in
his new comfy bed.
Robert (right) playing with Luna and their toy string of
sausages
Visit to Greece – May 2009
This time of the year is, sadly, when so many kittens
get dumped into the rubbish bins for disposal!Hard to believe but this is a very common
practice in
Greece.
Here are some that were lucky
enough to be removed before the bins were emptied.
The Greek authorities have the audacity to say that they
have animal welfare laws in place to prevent animal suffering.
But
the truth is that
NOTHING
is done to help these poor souls.
During our 5 day trip, 19 kittens were saved from the
dustbin lorry and we have pledged to get them homes and pay for
their sterilization in 6 month’s time.If you would like to make a donation
towards helping these kittens please contact us.
Luna & Woody Discover Snow for First Time
Arrivals Of 2009
At Hot Day in
Greece!
Vasso has been in
the dog shelter on
Aegina
all her life – she is now 6 years old.She was finding it a bit too hot so decided to
climb into her water bucket to cool off!
Visit
to Greece
– May
2008
As our home is
on
Aegina, we always base our
visit there.We have been supporting the Animal Protection dog
shelter for many years and it is probably one of the best, if
not the best, in Greece.Their new
clinic is wonderful and the hundred or so dogs in their care are
in great condition.Although many find good homes, they are
currently taking in too many puppies and this is a real problem.This one was found during our visit – how could
anyone have just ‘dumped’ him?
The situation with the stray cats seemed worse than ever and we
spent time every evening feeding the cats which hang around the
bins, they were desperate for food and water.Another issue was with Athenians who have weekend
homes on Aegina.They leave the dog alone all week with no food
and water.The dogs have no value.
We
visited a group that we support in Athens called Nine Lives and they
care for the cats in the
NationalGardens and
surrounding area.The four ladies we met were very dedicated to
their cause and the cats were in good condition.The main problem is the stray dog population as
local people dump the dogs in the gardens and the poor things
are so hungry that they attack the cats.
We then
took the bus to Halkida to visit a dog shelter that we started
supporting earlier in the year.There were around 200 dogs there and we experienced
great sadness as the dogs have little or no chance of finding
homes.On arrival, we met a 3 legged, partially sighted,
Husky and we couldn’t help but compare him to our own 2 huskies
living in comfort in the UK.Very sad.They are so short of help and money and
can’t afford proper dog food so they really do need some help.We visited a local vet with a very sick puppy and I was
disgusted at this woman’s total lack of interest because the
poor thing was a ‘stray’.They have little chance when even the local vet
has no interest in genuine animal welfare.A disgrace to the profession.
We, therefore, appeal to everyone to help us support this
shelter.Please make a donation or contact me for further
details.Here are some more photos from Halkida.
We
will continue to support them as funds allow and will visit
again at the end of September.
We also have someone running the London Marathon for
us and for those who would specifically like to sponsor him can
do so on www.justgiving.com/gordondallas
hope you can help with this
Visit to Aegina – May
2007
Whilst walking into Aegina town one morning, we
heard the all too familiar plaintive cries from a small
kitten. It was somewhere in the nearby field. We
waited a few hours in case the mother cat was around but, as
the midday sun became increasingly hot, the cries became
more and more weak so we decided to intervene.
In the middle of a thick gorse bush we found a tiny
tortoiseshell kitten – about 4 weeks old. She had the
usual runny eyes but fortunately wasn’t sneezing so we were
hopeful that she didn’t have cat flu. We took her home
where she ate well and, the following day, she started to
play. I was very grateful to a friend who offered to
take her in. She is a very lucky cat and we named her
Lollita.
This young dog, now named Molly, was found wandering the
streets just a few weeks ago. You will see that she
only has 3.5 legs and our vet thought that one had been
partly chewed off at a young age – let’s hope she finds a
good home soon
Dolly was found just 3 weeks
ago – she had been discarded. Her owner had thrown her
into the sea but she too was lucky and was pulled out by a
kind passer by. It was soon discovered that Dolly was
epileptic but has responded well to very simple treatment.
We hope that someone responsible will offer her a home in
the not too distant future
Latest Victims of Poisoning in Halkidiki
Although the practice of poisoning animals is meant to be
illegal in Greece, the authorities are not interested in
following up such incidents – so the pain and suffering
continues.
Last week, these 3 dogs were found immediately their plight
became evident and they were saved by a local group.
Death by poisoning is horrific and unnecessary and we urge
people to report those responsible for such appalling acts.
Last week we received this horrific
photograph from a colleague in Crete. She had
organised some of the local stray cats to be sterilised.
The day after her operation, this poor soul was poisoned and
died a long and painful death. What is the point of
such barbaric actions?? We must report people who do
this. It is unnecessary and illegal.
Website sponsorship
This website is now sponsored by OCS Computers.
You
can now holiday on the island of Aegina in privately owned
villas.
Use the
Aegean Sunset
link above to find out more.
We can now accept donations through PayPal. You
don't need a PayPal account, as secure credit card transactions
are easy to do with PayPal.
