We have been contacted by a lovely lady who lives in Souda, Crete.
She is looking after a group of stray cats in the area of her home, that unfortunately are under threat of being poisoned. Already she has lost a number of the group to this awful fate.
She is relocating back to the UK in the upcoming months and is desperatly looking for someone who help her relocate these cats, or adopt 1 or 2…
If anyone knows someone that could help her, or give her some advise please get in touch with her on the below phone numbers… She has a Greek number and a english number.
We would like to share an update as to how everything is coming along after our big fundraiser, for the purchase of land to build a new shelter.
We are happy to announce, that after all the help from you all, and every single euro that was donated and raised, we have been able to purchase the field! The sale is finally complete and the land is now ours 100% …… we can now build our dream shelter!
We are now in the process of getting quotes to carry out the work and buy the building supplies that we need, but we are a big step closer to it becoming a reality. And it would never have been possible if each and every one of you had not shown us soo much support, and donated what you could towards our goal.
When the lockdown is over we will load some photos of the field, but for now here is teh contact showing that sitia animal rescue now owns the field!!
Firstly we are sorry to have ben offline for a while, we have experienced some technical issues beyond our control.
It has been a hard few months for us all, not just the people that volunteer at our shelter, but the people that give up there time and energy to care for the many street cats and dogs as well.
Some people have not been able to get out and care for the stray animals that they normal visit daily as often, and others have found they have more strays to care for.
At the shelter we were worried that we would not be able get to the shelter, that we may have been stopped by a police check, but with help from Dimos we were issued papers that meant we were able to carry on as close to normal as we can. And we have had volunteers there every day, for feeding, cleaning and socialising.
One of our main concerns has been food. Would we have enough if things became worse? With adoptions being at an all time low, due to quaratntine and no travelling. There was big concerns that deliveries would not be able to get through, or even that they may not be food being brought to the island at all. And with over 70 dogs at the shelter and numerous strays living on the streets, a relying on us more than ever for their food and care, to say we were worried is putting it mildly.
but in our time of need, our friends and supporters were there for us and we can not thank you enough.
We have had donations of dry adult and puppy food, dry powdered puppy milk and some very high quality puppy food.
Our supplies are now full, to hopefully see us through the rest of this storm. Thankyou to everyone who has shown us love and support in these hard times, please continue to help us to help the animals, and if you go for a walk, maybe take a handful of food with you, the strays of our town and surrounding villages would appreciate.
Είμαστε στην παρά πολύ ευχάριστη θέση να σας ανακοινώσουμε, ότι σήμερα ολοκληρώθηκε η αγορά οικοπέδου για την κατασκευή νέου καταφυγίου .
Μέσα στον επόμενο μήνα θα ολοκληρωθεί και η κατάθεση του φακέλου για την χρηματοδότηση μέσο του προγράμματος Leader για το οποίο έχουμε ήδη κάνει σημαντικά βήματα και απομένουν κάποιες λεπτομέρειες .
Ένα όνειρο ζωής της προέδρου μας Δέσποινας Κουνελακης και όλων των μελών του συλλόγου μας , για την παροχή στα ζώα που βοηθάμε ενός χώρου όπου θα μπορούν να έχουν την ασφάλεια και την φροντίδα που τους αξίζει όσο παραμένουν στην φροντίδα μας .
Δεν θα μπορούσαμε να πραγματοποιήσουμε αυτό το όνειρο μας χωρίς την στήριξη όλων αυτών που μας βοήθησαν με την γεναιοδωρία τους και που πίστεψαν μαζί με εμάς ότι οι ζωές των ζώων μετράνε , ότι τους αξίζει κάτι καλύτερο και ότι όλοι μαζί μπορούμε …
Από τα βάθη της καρδιάς μας σας ευχαριστούμε όλους …!!!
We are very pleased to announce that today we completed the purchase of land for the construction of a new shelter .
Within the next month, the submission of the dossier for funding will also be completed through the Leader programme, for which we have already taken important steps and just some last details remain.
It has been a lifelong dream of our president Despina Kounelaki and all the members of our association, to provide the animals we help a place where they can have the safety and care they deserve while they remain in our care .
We could not have made this dream come true without the support of all those who helped us with their generosity and who believed with us that animal lives matter , that they deserve better and that together we can …
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you all …!!!
We have taken down the fundraiser page, as we have exciting news that we will be sharing with you all very soon!!
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated, shared or come to one of our fundraiser events….. the show of support from all of you has been amazing and we thank you on behalf of ourselves and all the animals we care for.
I am the bridge, Between what was and what can be. I am the pathway to a new life
I am made of mush, Because my heart melted when i saw you, Matted and sore, limping, depressed lonely, unwanted, afraid to love.
For one little time you are mine. I will feed you with my own hand. I will love you with my whole heart. I will make you whole.
I am made of steel. Because when the time comes, When you are well, and sleek, When your eyes shine, And your tail wags with joy, Then comes the hard part.
I will let you go – not without a tear. But without a regret. For you are safe forever – A new dog needs me now……..
Neutering/Sterilisation of stray animals For 3 days at the end of January, (27,28 & 29), Sitia Animal Rescue, working with vets from Förderverein Arche Noah Kreta, ran a sterilisation programme which, focused on cats, was extremely successful. Volunteers (Greek, English and, on the third day, German) managed to catch 113 cats which were neutered by the vet from Arche Noah. 15 dogs were also neutered, and may now be rehomed. These sessions are hugely important, both in keeping the numbers of strays down, and ensuring that stray animals are healthy – they are given a health check while they are anaesthetised. During 2019 nearly 500 cats & dogs were neutered. This is a great achievement for all concerned!
Why are some animals self aware and others not? What is self awareness? Which animals are self aware? I know, I am deviating off my brief on this one and I hope Sara will forgive me but I was recently involved in a discussion where it became obvious that there is virtually no understanding of this topic and the ramifications are rather important for humans. Some primates, elephants, some whales and some dolphins are considered to be self aware and you may ask why should we take any notice? Well being self aware means that you pass the mirror test. This is designed to show whether you recognise yourself instead of believing that the image is in fact another animal. It may sound a crude test but it does show that certain species have a level of intelligence beyond that which we accept. In 2007 an American lawyer Steven Wise founded the non human rights project.(NhRP) and in 2013 he sought to change the status of animals that were self aware from property to that of persons. This in effect would have meant that none of these animals could be kept in cages, all whales and dolphins in captivity would have to be released along with all elephants and primates. In reality it meant that all animals of these species in captivity must be moved where possible to a sanctuary providing them with a natural lifestyle or released where possible back into the wild and just importantly none of these animals could ever be captured again. The legal case was turned into a documentary called Unlocking the Cage released in 2016 and whilst the case was lost it has promoted calls for a greater understanding of animal rights. There have even been suggestions that keeping these animals for commercial gain contravenes anti slavery legislation. After all, if an animal is aware that what is happening is unnatural and that animal is caused distress…… Now I have no doubt that this sort of legislation won’t pass in my lifetime but maybe in the lifetime of some of the younger readers it could happen. Now before anybody says “no way” think about the progress I have seen, the introduction of the assistance dog, behaviourism, canine roles in the military, therapy dogs, opposition to wearing fur, legislation on animal welfare rights, the advent of the microchip, animals are rarely kept in cages even in zoos, safari parks provide a natural habitat but most of all, we as a species have developed a far greater understanding of the intelligence that abounds in the animal kingdom and who knows how many more animals will be found to be self aware. What’s more, how much can we learn from the animals that we subjugate?
R
Here gentlemen a dog teaches us a lesson in humanity
Napoleon Bonaparte. He was saved by a Newfoundland dog after falling overboard from a ship. (Napoleon Bonaparte couldn’t swim!)
