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Letters from visitors to Greece 2009 These are only a sample of the countless emails and letters we receive from visitors and residents of Greece. 11th November 2009
Hi,
We have actually adopted one dog and rescued a litter of pups that were abandoned in the rubbish dump outside the village, which we then struggled to rehome. When asking around friends for possible homes for |
Today I discovered your website through World Animal Net Directive, and I was very pleased to learn that there is an active charity dedicated to animal
welfare of animals in Greece. I am from England but have lived in Greece since 2006, and so I am well aware of the ongoing problems particularly with
strays in Greece. It upsets me greatly to see the road kills, the hungry strays and the teathered 'guard dogs' which I come across every time I step out
of my house.|
the pups we were told about a dog 'shelter' in Florina, where we could take them. We went to visit this shelter and were horrified to discover a fenced off area, next to a rubbish dump, with about 50-60 dogs inside and no sign of anyone working there. We could peer inside only through a small gap in the metal, and all the doors to smaller enclosures were open and all the dogs were mixing together. I saw a lactating female and my thoughts went to uncontrolled mating of already homeless dogs, disease transmittion and aggression. Is there anything that can be done for these dogs? I really want to help but don't know how, so I was hoping your organisation might be able to give help or advice in any way.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Karen
11th November 2009
My name is Alexandra and I am residing in Thessaloniki, Greece. Currently our family has adopted 10 dogs, all found in the streets of Thessaloniki battered and abused. They are now grown up and have become beautiful large, well-fed and a little bit spoiled large pets.
Your organization might be able to provide some assistance in finding families for these dogs and even for the ones that we are sure to find in the future. We will pay for the vaccinations, the microchips and their transportation. Please email me back as soon as you possibly can, so that I know if you will be able to help us. We truly care about these animals and in contacting you we are trying to help them find a home. Thank you in advance. Alexandra29th October 2009 My family and I have just returned from a weeks holiday in Rhodes, it was our first time to Greece and like yourselves we were appalled at the amount of stray animals we saw and the conditions they were in. There were lots of stray cats around the accommodation we were staying in and we got very attached to a few cats that kept visiting our apartment for food and cuddles. I am aware that the holiday season is coming to a close in the next couple of days and find it very distressing that the cats will be left to starve and possibly poisoned. I am hoping you will be able to give me some advice on how we may be able to bring some of the cats home. Rebecca 21st October 2009
Dear GAR,
I don't know what to do and am desperately look for somebody to advise me and I feel that you really care so much that you would understand. I have
recently returned from holiday in Pefkos and am deeply concerned over the welfare of a wild colony of young cats who lived within the grounds of the Finas
I have two beautiful cats of my own back here in England who live the life of luxury and I felt so deeply saddened by the potential fate of these beautiful
Greek cats that I wished, and still wish that I could have brought them all back with me to safety.
Please could you advise me as to whether there is anything that can be done to save these beautiful creatures? I enclose pictures of some of the cats and
can give you likely locations for where they usually live.
I very much look forward to hearing back from you. I don't think that an hour has passed when the issue of these cats' welfare hasn't troubled me since my
return. I can't sleep for worry over them. I feel heartbroken. Please could you give me some advice?
Many thanks.
Claire
9th September 2009
Hi I have recently come back from a holiday in Crete where I was appalled to learn that poison is put down at the end of the season which kills stray cats and dogs in a very inhumane way. The friend I was travelling with has a cousin who has lived in Greece for 20 years and is involved in animal welfare and she told us the harsh reality. I have four cats in the UK and fell in love with a most beautiful, loving cat whilst I was there. The thought of her being poisoned at the end of the season is very distressing and I want to investigate the possibility of bringing her back to England to integrate her with my other cats. I realise there are many obstacles to encounter, including financial ones, but I believe she deserves the chance of a happy life and would appreciate any help you can give me. Please let me know what steps I need to take to bring this beautiful cat back to a loving home in the UK. Many thanks. Paula 13th August 2009
Hello
I have recently returned from holiday in Crete and was quite upset to see the way the stray dogs and cats were treated there, it was very sad to see some
of these animals on the streets with no homes.
I live in Jersey in the Channel Islands and have been looking for a dog for sometime now. I would love to give a home and better life to one of these
stray animals and wondered whether you had any rescue dogs/puppies on your books and whether you would ship these to Jersey.
Tara
10th August 2009
Hello
I wonder if you could help me. I spent 2 weeks in Paleochora, Crete at the end of June and on my last day, I went for a run up to Azogires and about 3/4
kilometers from the outskirts of Azogires I ran (hobbled !) past a large black dog that was chained up on the right hand side of the road. I said hello
and he was unusually friendly and on the way back, about 5 to 10 minutes later, I stopped and spent some time with him.
If you can help or if you can recommend anyone else who may be able to help, then I could email the photograph. If the owner can be located and if he is
prepared to sell, then I will fly out to pay for him and arrange all the necessary medical, travel, board and quarantine arragements.
He is such a lovely dog and we could give him such a great life !
Hoping to hear from you
Paul
8th July 2009
GAR was copied in on the email below which was sent to the MINISTRY OF TOURISM for Greece by a visitor to Crete Sir, The scenery during our walk was stunning However there were two things on our
holiday that were so awful they make me wonder whether I shall visit Crete or Greece again.
Firstly there is the problem of litter. Litter is everywhere in the countryside and
ranges from water bottles to abandoned vehicles, building materials, agricultural waste to disused industrial sites and much more.
I really have to ask the
question whether anybody in Greece cares about the environment in which they live? During our walking holiday we brought back sacks of litter to our hotels
for disposal and even cleaned up the beach at Damnoni, do you think visitors should really have to do this? Secondly there is problem of the so called ‘Guard Dogs’ in Crete. We were badly scared
twice by chained guard dogs on other walks and on one walk we had to turn back but fortunately were not bitten. The Greek government should do something
about these ‘Guard dogs’. The dogs perform no useful function and it is extremely cruel to leave a dog chained with only a barrel to shade it from the
burning sun. It is time this practice was stopped or perhaps Greece does not want walkers like me and my wife to visit Greece again.
I have discovered since my return from Crete that Greece has a reputation across
Europe for cruelty to animals. Many animal rescue organisations from outside Greece have tried to improve the situation but to no avail. This is very
sad for a country that claims to be the ‘Cradle of Western Civilisation’ obviously the civilisation did not extend to animals.
3rd July 2009
Hello, The puppies will surely perish if just left or poisoned as that unfortunately is their 'animal control' policy up here. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards 3rd July 2009 Hello Kind Animal Lover
Can you put me in contact with an animal shelter or other organisation that can help find her a good home? She is good natured, protective and loyal, and very good with children so she will make a good pet. I’m no expert but there appears to be some hunting dog in her, she’s medium sized (so far). I really wish I could keep her myself but as I said, the landlady is complaining and so are the neighbours and I’m afraid of finding her poisoned one day soon. I live in the northern suburbs of Athens but Husband has a car and we could transport her within Attica. Thank you and God bless Sunny 28th June, 2009 Hi
I was hoping someone would visit them and clean the area by the following day, but by midmorning they were just the same and someone had thrown bread into the water. I had to fly home. I mentioned the dogs to reception but they were unconcerned, I wrote to IFAW when I got home and they gave me your address. Please can you do something. Many thanks. |
A few weeks ago my mother found
5 puppies, a cross between husky and caucasian shepherd. Their mother had died and the poor little ones were grouped around her body. We took them home and
we are currently looking after them. We cannot however look after so many dogs, and unfortunately we need to find loving families to give them. As you will
probably already know Greece is not the ideal place for dog adoption and that is why I thought I should contact you.
Hotel Apartments. They were beautiful creatures, many extremely young, however we heard while we were in the hotel that the locals plan to kill them every
year by poisoning once the tourists have left. I am so angry that human beings would treat these wonderful sentient beings so horrifically, especially
when such a tourist trade is made out of using the images of such cats to sell calendars and other holiday souvenirs. I am sure that you will agree how
sickening and duplicitous such goings-on are!
When we drove back to Chania airport on the Tuesday he was still there and my wife and I spent more time with him, I took a photograph of him and now I
cannot get him out of my mind - I fear that I have fallen for him ! He is a largish, alsatian-type, blackish dog and I suspect he is very young. I have
been investigating travel and quarantine costs, but of course I have no idea if the owner would sell him and this is my big problem. Would it be possible
for somebody to visit this location (about 1.5 hours from Chania !) to try to locate the owner and see if he would sell him (I suspect if he will, he would
ask a high price, but...). I do understand that this might not be a easy task ! I also realise that it is really a crazy (and very expensive) thing to
think about doing, but I do need to see if it is possible.
I completed a seven days walking holiday with my wife along the coast of south west Crete in late May this year.
Monday last week, while I was waiting at a busy intersection for the school bus with
my son and a friend a female dog befriended me, followed me home. I have been feeding her since but the landlady does not allow me to keep her. Both front
paws appear to have been broken and are set, one quite crookedly, but she manages to walk and even run without apparent distress. She must have belonged
to somebody as she was wearing a collar and flea collar, but when I found her she was quite thin. I’ve named her Lucky. 
I have returned from Crete at the beginning of this month. The day before I was due
to leave found 2 young dogs in a very small dirty area on the harbour at Rethymnon opposite the tavernas. They in a hidden corner behind two deserted
cabins. I think they have been abandoned. They had a wooden kennel, one was chained with a thick cable and could not reach far from the kennel, the
younger one male was free (so to speak). They had no water or food.
They had a deep bowl each, someone had thrown chips in. There was a tap and clean
bowl near by and I managed to part fill the bowls. You had to hold the bowl high to get over the wire. They were friendly and desperate for affection.
To View letters received in 2008 please click here
Updated: 5th February 2010