By Nicolas Stephanou & Claire Kalemkeris
PAWS wants to wish all its supporters Chronia Polla!
Now that winter is upon us, circumstances for animals out on the street or recently abandoned become much harsher. If you see a dog or cat in trouble and can offer them food and shelter we encourage you to do so. The policy of PAWS is to not encourage feeding without sterilization and vaccination. We would very much like to go on with an aggressive push to sterilize cat colonies as well as dogs during this winter. Our current account at the veterinary is near to zero and there is no financial obstacle for that. But we really need some human energy in the form of volunteers to come forward, otherwise it is very difficult to get anything done.
Outside of Paroikia dogs that are loose and no longer have restaurant food scraps to live on will inevitably start killing livestock to eat. Without someone interceding, these dogs most often will be killed by people trying to protect their animals and birds. Sterilization helps end the cycle of unwanted dogs and cats that die ugly deaths. The space available for PAWS to absorb more strays becomes much more difficult with the close of the tourist season. Winter also means the end of economy charter flights, with the result that it has become very expensive to continue the transportation of as many animals from January through March. So if by chance someone is available to take dogs north to Germany or Switzerland we would be delighted to hear from you.
We wrote some time ago about a programme that Jane Sword had suggested: a kenneling exchange system, which is a way to provide a free kenneling service by creating a buddy network. The idea is that you could contact Jane with information about your pet and she would link you to another person, a potential buddy who could provide a similar living arrangement to the one your pet has. For example: your pet primarily lives inside, or your dog lives outside on a lead and is walked regularly. The idea is to find a match so that your pet can live in peace with the other person's pet while you are away and you will be able to live in peace when you are away. Jane will act as coordinator and clearing house for all participants. If you are interested please contact her on 22840-42603 or 694-2609436.
We would like to thank those members who have chosen to pay their subscriptions or have given generous donations. There is a lot of support coming from outside of Greece and the reality is that these donations exceed local support. It is very important to have local people involved as it can make a big difference in the long run. There seems to be a fear that becoming a member means you will be swamped with requests to do volunteer work; in point of fact just joining can make a big difference. |
