 |
 |
The
Strays in the Port of Keratsini
|
| First
visit ~ 27 June 2003
The morning after I arrived in Athens, I met
with Tina and Nafsika and together we set off for the port of
Keratsini, arriving there an hour and half later. Driving along
and stopping in various sections of the docks, which cover a
vast area of land, seeing groups of dogs who live there, spending
a little time with them and getting to know their characters
... all that and more, gave me a real insight into their daily
lives. It was heartening to see some of the dogs running towards
Tina’s car, as soon as it came to a stop (they all recognise
it), tails wagging, eyes sparkling in anticipation. She regularly
gives treatment to those who need it (if they are not too nervous
and unapproachable) and we help by supplying medicines, pay for
veterinary treatment when needed and for blood tests for those
dogs which are sent abroad for adoption.
|
Tina (below)
- The main carer of the Keratsini dogs - seen 'spoon-feeding'
a group of 4, which is how she builds their trust, making
it easier to treat the sick etc.
|
 |
|
There
are still around 80 or so dogs in the port, living in groups
of 3 to 10, but thanks to Tina and two other ‘carers’,
Nafsika and Iris, Carine Wouters [S.O.S. Strays), who helps
with rehoming and our financial support, the situation is
no longer so desperate. The fact that more than 100 dogs
have been rehomed in the past year, speaks for itself!
|
|
However,
not all dogs are immediately ready for rehoming (nor are there
homes waiting for all who need it, especially the large males,
many of whom are actually very friendly, but people are reluctant
to ‘give them a chance’), b ecause they often need
time to ‘adapt to humans’ etc. Even a simple action
of putting a collar and a lead can cause them to panic.
|
Below:
Tina, filling the metal ‘dispenser’ with
dry food … and on the left: the resident bunch
tuck in
|
|
|
The
main reason for going to Keratsini on that particular day
(apart from feeding the dogs) was to try to locate and catch
the group of six, among them Mario, who’s had a piece
of thick rope tied around his neck for more than a year,
but nobody could get hold of him to remove it – and
Kyra, whose hind right leg was badly broken & twisted
- it needed to be amputated.
|
|
|
Rescue
of the 'Wild Bunch'
|
|
Saturday, 28 June:
Six of us arrived at the port shortly after 1pm
and while at first it seemed we wouldn’t have too many difficulties
in catching the dogs, we were wrong. Getting the dogs to eat the
food which was spiked with sedatives was relatively easy, but they
kept their guard.
|
|
|
Having
eaten the spiked food, we waited patiently for the sedatives
to take effect, but the dogs were too wary to be approached
... they’d come so close we could almost touch them,
yet as soon as an attempt to catch them was made, they were
off ...
|
|
We
eventually managed to catch 4 of the 6 dogs from that group and
another timid boy, whom we found hiding under a truck. Alas, Kyra
- or the ‘little spitfire’, as I later nicknamed her
- was impossible to get near enough to ‘lasso’ with
the ‘dog catcher’ ... and she could certainly run like
a deer when she wanted to, even on 3 legs ... and with 20 sedatives
inside her!! Because there was danger of her running out of the
main gates, we reluctantly decided we had no choice but to leave
her, but she was caught successfully a few days later.
KYRA, only
a few feet away, but impossible to catch on that day
|
MARIO, pictured
an hour before he was caught and the rope he’d had
around his neck for more than a year, was finally removed
that evening. Mario is not a youngster and nobody knows
how he ended up in Keratsini or how long he had been there,
though judging by his mistrust of humans and the many old
scars on his body, he had a good reason to be wary.
Mario,
who had a thick rope tied around his neck for more
than a year
|
|
|
|
Safe,
but not ready to be rehomed....
|
|
|
We
knew it would take a while before the ‘wild bunch’ would
be ready to be rehomed, but we felt sure that in time, they
would learn that not all humans were ‘bad’. They
deserved to spend the remaining years of their lives with
people who would love them and treat them as members of their
families.
|
Visiting
the ‘wild bunch’ at their temporary home
near Athens 2 days before I left Greece. They were slowly
adapting to their new lives, though it would be several
weeks before they were ready to be rehomed.
A
year or so ago, the situation seemed pretty hopeless, but
it gradually improved and althrough it would be naive to
think that every single dog there can be 'saved', it has
been shown that many do get their chance to get out of
Keratsini for good and we are striving to give a few other
'residents' the same opportunity.
Please
Click Here to View More Pictures of the Dogs of Keratsini
|
|
|
