Thin Blackie

This morning, a new bark in the field alerted us to a new arrival.  When we saw the state of this poor black dog, ones heart sinks to the floor. She was malnutritioned and dehydrated.  Lucy wasn't too keen on her arrival, nor were the cats, but she was desperately hungry and needed water. She arrived with a rope around her neck, which was OK for us, as we were able to attach a lead, to calm her down, also so that she wouldn't charge after the other strays.  Looking further, she was heavily pregnant and the chances were that her babies would be born within the next few days.  Where in the world would we possible keep them?  I suppose, when she has them, we will find a solution, but for now she was safe. 

Sadly as the days went by, she vanished.  We searched high and low for her.  It might have been that she went to a safe place to have her babies.  When animals go missing like this, one really does worry, but this is Greece.  We did what we could for her and now hope and pray that she is safe from harm.

A rescue shelter is needed for cases like Blackie.  It is with this reason, that I desperately want to raise funds for a shelter, which will be a safe haven, where they will receive food, love, care and much more.  It will be hard to get to where I want to, but everything is achievable.  One needs to believe.

https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays
http://www.ermioni.info/content/animal-welfare
http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greekstrays-donations

Donation of food and equippment

Today we had to drive to Athens to collect a couple of pallets food and equipment for the strays which had been donated to us by a couple of charities in the UK. Sheer luxury.  English food coming for the strays.  I was so happy.  This was the first time, I had ever received anything for the strays, so I was also extremely grateful to the English charities who made this possible.

We hired a largish van and thought everything had been arranged and there would be no complications.  However, nothing is straightforward here in Greece. When we arrived at the depot, they refused to let us take the consignment because of the weight of the 2 pallets.  We tried to make the warehouse aware that most of the bulky boxes contained soft bedding for the animals.  But no, it was like talking to a brick wall.  There was no way, they were going to allow us to take anything.  After finally waiting for seemed ages and after numerous phone calls, they finally allowed us to take the 2 pallets.  

Sheer delight for the children.  To enjoy biscuits and different flavours of wet food, was sheer luxury for them.  However, because we have so many that we feed, it will probably last only a couple of weeks.  But better for them to enjoy 2 weeks of delight.  I was also able to share food and equipment with a couple of other friends.

https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays?ref=hl
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797
http://www.ermioni.info/content/animal-welfare
http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greekstrays-donations

Daisy and her babies

Bank holiday, what a day.  The weather exceptionally hot, the sky blue and the sun shining brightly. Maybe there will be time later in the afternoon to go for a walk or a swim. Until early afternoon, I was quite busy. Then late afternoon, I received a telephone call from a Swiss lady, who appeared to be a little distressed.  She spoke about finding a female dog by some bins with 4 puppies.  According to her, these puppies were only about 5 days old and the mother dog, had a broken leg.  More phone calls but to who?  I knew the local charity wouldn't help as they are struggling to find foster carers themselves.  I explained to the lady that I will make some phone calls, but I might not achieve a solution, so it will be a case of passing telephone numbers onto her.  Anyway, the person that I rang agreed to help, which was great news.  We established the bins and all met there.  For me though, it was awful.  Seeing this female dog laid pitifully with her babies was heartbreaking.  I was equally shocked to hear that this Swiss lady saw them the day before and didn't contact anyone.  If Bank holiday had have been just another day, then these puppies and their mother would have been binned!!!!!  How could someone ignore the plight of GreekSTRAYS?  To give a stray any chance of survival, one needs to act immediately.   The new foster person took them to the vet straight away to be examined.  It was identified, that the break either happened just before she gave birth, or at some point when her puppies had been born.  The good news was that the puppies were not 5 days old.  They were approximately 4/5 weeks old.  So some cruel local decided to dump them.  

If you wish to make a contribution towards my cause, everything will be greatly appreciated:

http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greek-strays-helpdonations
http://www.ermioni.info/content/animal-welfare
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797

Little Shmako

Beautiful sunny morning here in Ermioni, clear blue skies, bright yellow sun, what more could one ask for?   The 'children' will be patiently waiting for their feed.  Time to go them.  First stop is the small gang at Podari.  There is a group of 3 cats which are gorgeous, plus a new addition of a ginger tom, all close to the metal bins.  Oh well, he will be the next one to be neutered.  That's if we ever get close to him.  Feeding these few here is great, because with the long grass, no evil eye can see them lazily grazing.  Next stop is our little piece of paradise, the sanctuary as we call it. How long this will be ours, is a question that we keep asking. Anyway, here she comes, Lucy galloping down to great us.  She is such an affectionate loving dog, that it really does amaze us as to whether she has a home, or is she really homeless.?Next comes Bruno.  He isn't a stray, but was so miserable when he first started coming, but now there is a new lease of life in him. Then the gang come along, skip, skip, skip.  One by one they run and play and all want your time.  But one day, one of them will get run over!  While the biscuits are put out, I hear another noise.  The sound of a young dog barking.  Oh no!  We knew what this meant, but was there just one, or many or them?  We opened the door to the old house and out came a little puppy.  Some sad person had trespassed on the ground and put the puppy through a broken window during the night.  However, it was better this way, than throwing it in a large metal bin, or poisoning it.  The cats were all disheveled.  It explained why there were some missing.  They are not used to any puppies or dogs.  The only ones they will tolerate are Lucy and Bruno.  My mind then returned to the puppy.  Where can it go?  Who can I call?   I called a friend, who always offered her help and support.  Not in monetary terms, but in time  they always stressed they would help where possible.  She agreed to take him straightaway.  So once all the feeding and cleaning had been completed, Shmako was taken to his new foster home.  How long for, I don't know.  I am trying to find him a home, so fingers crossed, someone will love him the way I do.  He is such a lovely puppy.  Very affectionate and all he deserves is a home with love and care. I call him Shmako, because Lucy was eating some of those treats and Shmako wanted some.  

If anyone would like to support our cause, it would be greatly appreciated: 

http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greek-strays-helpdonations
http://www.ermioni.info/content/animal-welfare
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays

Goodbye Theo - May the angels protect you

This is Theo, one of our rescued GreekSTRAYS, who was a very lucky boy.  Together with his twin Leo, they were found close to the church 4 years to this date.  Sadly a few days ago, he became sick.  No vet was available, so a trip to the pharmacy resulted in some antibiotic medication.  In the absence of a vet, one is very limited as to what one can do, but one really does try. Sadly thinking progress was made, he deteriorated last night.  This morning, an appointment to the vet was made, but even though it was an emergency, the vet had surgery, so we had to wait, but on the way, Theo died peacefully and is now at Rainbow Bridge together with all his other friends.  He was a wonderful loving stray and his twin Leo will miss him.  RIP little fella.  We all miss you dearly , but know you will be skipping with many of your friends at Rainbow Bridge.  xxxxxxx

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.339201966140202.81405.268948393165560&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797
http://www.ermioni.info/content/animal-welfare
http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greekstrays-donations

HAPPY EASTER

GreekSTRAYS would like to wish all a very Happy Easter and a wonderful holiday weekend. 
Please do support our cause and consider making a donation.  Living in Greece, you don't realise what a hard life GreekSTRAYS have.  No matter how big or small, everything will be greatly appreciated.

https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797

http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greek-strays-helpdonations

The 'Cereal' gang

Meet our three gorgeous fluffy girlies:  Cornflake, Wheetabix and Sugarpuff.   All three were feral and we could never get close to them. They were very wary of us, but we still fed them by a couple of large metal bins.  As a result of us feeding, they became very friendly and we were able stroke them.  Then we managed to catch them and have them neutered.  From neutering, we took them to the large piece of field, where we have managed to keep many other cats, which is only a temporary holding area, which we refer to as our sanctuary.  We wish to raise funds for Greek strays, so if you wish to make a donation to help us, then please click on either of the links below, where you will be able to read more about our cause:

https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays/app_362564237108797 
http://www.ermioni.info/things-to-know/greek-strays-helpdonations
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ermioni-info/sets/ 
http://www.ermioni.info/content/animal-welfare
https://www.facebook.com/Greekstrays