The Pied Piper of Sitia shows that while most follow the money, the Sitia ducks follow the food!
One of our amazing volunteers, a man named Bob Body, feeds the sitia ducks several times a week.
They have learnt the sound of his car, and when he arrives they come and gather around and wait for him to park, then they proceed to follow him to the feeding area.
One of our local fishermen help Bob, by looking after the ducklings, he has created a little enclosure beside the steps, and they are safe in there from predators, until they are old enough and strong enough to go out with the rest of the flock.
All together there are around 50 ducks and geese now on the pond…. (which equals a large amount of food!)
Bob also is one of the key people that look after the feeding stations that you see around our town.
This means collecting the food from the shelter before going to town. Then he thoroughly cleans the feeders and water containers before filling them up again.
Bob like all our volunteers at the shelter, gives all his time and energy for free, not only doing the above, but helping when ever he is needed.
Without the help of our amazing volunteers we would not be in the place we are today…..
Thank you bob, and Thank you to all our volunteers, each and every one of you helps make a huge difference in all the animals lives, and without you the shelter would not be the success it is today.
Our local football team Niki, which has been going since 1951. Is a important part of our community, and as they show support to us, we in return will show support to them……
They have on their facebook page all news and upcoming fixtures, as well as news in general about the team.
We have added a link to the webpage, which will take you directly to their facebook page, where you can follow them and keep up to date with any news about the team.
We want to say a huge thank you to Leonidas Moutakis, the seminar on Sundays the 20th October was a great success. We all learned a few valuable bits of information about our four legged friends.
And also we want to say thank you to Sam’s Field animal food. Who provided some free samples of dog and cat food for various ages, that were given to everyone who attended, as well as 3 prizes for a raffle…
Sitia K9 will be giving a lecture all about dogs. Some very interesting information about things a lot of us do not know, including how dogs first became man’s best friend.
Come a long and support us and learn a little about your four legged friend.
10 euros entrance fee….. and all the proceeds are donated to the shelters fundraiser.
Tessa tells us her story, and the story of a few of her friends who her new adoptive family have also helped..
Tessa writes:-
My first try at blogging and having keyboard trouble. Paws not designed to type, really, so I’m getting some help from a friend. My name is Tessa, because I was the fourth dog from Sitia adopted by my people – for people who don’t speak Greek, let me explain that the Greek for “four” is “tessera”!
I live with some nice people and 3 other dogs near Sitia. Life is good, but it wasn’t always like this; I spent my first few months living on the street, as my first owners didn’t want me any more and threw me out.
Living on the streets is hard for dogs & cats, and I got very weak & thin; I used to let the tiny puppies get to food before me, as I knew they were really desperate, but it didn’t help me. I could only go a few steps before I had to lie down & rest. The people I live with now found me in December that year (2009) – just before Christmas and came every day to give me extra food. They must have been really worried about me because at New Year they came to find me and brought me home. For 3 days I just slept and ate the food they gave me – I couldn’t believe my luck and could finally relax because I was safe. I stopped being smelly, as well; living on the streets makes it hard to keep clean when you have a thick coat!
This is me not long after I arrived at my home.
My people love dogs – all the other dogs that live here were strays too, and we are good friends. There are so many dogs on the streets that need homes, and I hope they can find them. My people work with others in Sitia, in a group which helps animals; they leave stray animals food every day and take them to the vet when they are ill. Some of the animals get to go to new homes, too! We have had lots and lots of puppies staying here since I’ve been here.
These 2 (Abbi & Aliki) were found as 2 week old pups with their brother. Our family made sure they were fed properly, and they grew up into big, strong girls.
They stayed at our house for 6 months, until they were found permanent homes in Germany.
When the puppies came here, there was an adult dog called Renaud with them as well. He still lives here with us! My people said that if he came here, he stayed – they didn’t want him to be sent away again. He’s quite old now, but he still runs around ok.
One day, he and one of our other dogs (a very naughty one called Dusty) nearly caught a CAT! It was a bit hurt, but luckily (I think) the people saved it, and kept it in their bathroom for a while until it could have a “little operation” and then it went to Germany.
It was a white cat called Snowy, and white cats sometimes get sick here, so I’m glad it could go somewhere safe. There have been other CATS here sometimes, too, so I check the bathroom every morning just to make sure that none have sneaked in! You know how dodgy CATS can be!
This one was really dangerous!
Some of the puppies that have come to stay here have been really sad. Poor little Casper arrived at our gate very early one morning. It was still a bit dark, and our people could just see a little white shape, sitting there crying. Once they were able to catch him, they brought him in, and could see him properly. His poor ears were absolutely full of ticks (yuk) and the skin couldn’t be seen at all. Once they had got rid of the ticks he grew up well and I loved playing with him (even though he was a boy puppy!) The last I heard from him he was sitting in the back of a Saab Cabriolet on his way to the south of France – he really landed on his little paws!
One day we got a call to look after another sad puppy that was crying all the time. He came home here, and still cried, so my people found the tiniest puppy in the shelter to come and keep him company; enter Bonnie!
This is Bonnie, with my big friend Alex – he was terrified of her! She stayed here for quite a long time, and then went to Germany. We loved having her here, but we were really pleased that she found a new home.
Little Scamp was found by the side of the main road, along with another pup called Scruffy, and they both came to stay here for a few months. Scamp had something wrong with her front legs when she came here, and couldn’t walk properly. She had to do lots of exercises, but by the time she left she was fine, and found a nice home. She changed her name to Luna!
I’m really glad that all these pups have found new homes.
We are 2 girl dogs and 2 boy dogs living here now, and all of us are lucky.
Two of our wonderful volunteers tell the story of how they met and adopted 2 rescue dogs…
We came to live in Crete in 2001 and had the company of our lurcher called Merrick for four years. We had promised ourselves that we would not have another dog until we had done a bit of traveling to see the island where we had settled.
Daffy
It became obvious after 3 weeks without a dog that this was not going to happen. My son had been spending his first 2 week holiday in his renovated house in a tiny village in the valley below us. He contacted Ray and asked him if he could come down to the village whilst I was at work. It transpired that he had been feeding a little cream and tan spaniel type bitch but was now concerned about her welfare when he left to go back to work in two days time. The village was almost deserted and knowing how much Ray was missing Merrick, he wondered if I could be persuaded to adopted her. Ray took one look and knew that I would fall in love with her but they would have to give her a good wash and brush up before they presented her to me in the office. Of course we took her in; she was such a sweetie and we called her Daffy.
Taz
Working as an estate agent took me to many parts of East Crete. An owner in Athens wanted to sell his house in Agios Georgios and In the garden, tied up under a tree, was a little black hairy dog who was supposed to be guarding the chickens. A nearby neighbour was using the garden whilst the owners were away. On several visits to show buyers around, this little dog was so pleased to see us but was gradually looking more and more neglected. His coat was full of fleas and ticks and he must of being fed but his water bowl was empty, despite a water tap nearby. On two occasions, midnight visits were undertaken by my boss, to spray the dog to control the flies and ticks. We found a buyer for the property and the neighbour had to clear the garden. Ray had fallen for this little dog and had asked the boss a few days before, what was likely to happen to it. We had just taken on Daffy two days before, so when Ray expressed a wish to adopt him his appeal was answered with, well we have already got one so another will fit in fine. An urgent Sunday morning call had Ray rushing off with a dog box in the car to collect the dog before the owner changed her mind. Ten minutes after putting him into the box at the back of the car, Ray glanced back to find that he had escaped and was standing on top of it looking out of the back window. My daughter named him Taz after the Tasmania devil because of his protruding dog tooth and the two dogs became inseparable friends for many years until Daffy’s accidental death deprived us of her company. Taz lived for several more years and recently died of old age. As far as we could tell he was about 14 years old and both dogs had bought great happiness to us and their many friends especially the children in the village.
Two of our amazing volunteers, Tony and Lynne Acharya. Volunteer their time at the shelter, and take some of the dogs out for walks, adventures and most importantly socialisation with their own dogs.
Here we will keep you up to date with who they have taken out and what they have gotten up to….
This gorgeous little girl (little white girl on the left) is going to be the perfect addition to one lucky family’s home!
We took her and her brother out for the afternoon, with two of our own dogs. Although she had never met any of us before, she was totally comfortable with us, and the kisses and cuddles we gave her were returned in spades. We took her in the car and she cuddled on my lap, then settled beside me as we drove to a safe place for her to explore. Within minutes she was walking around, happily exploring the new surroundings and experiences, and wasn’t fazed at all by the collar and lead. She gave kisses to both our dogs and they were perfectly happy with that. She encouraged her less confident brother to explore with her and they rolled around playing and covering each other in the long dried cut grass. A calm, happy and confident little girl that I would have brought home with us to live had it been remotely possible! Be quick if you’d like to adopt her…she deserves to be in the most loving home very quickly.
This gorgeous little boy is a total softy. All he wanted was cuddles. He was a little nervous of his first car trip, needing a little reassurance. He loved our two dogs and wanted to make friends with them rather than explore the area we took him too with his sister. A little unnerved by the first time in a collar and lead, he preferred to lie in the grass and play. Once he saw his sister having a drink he happily trotted over to have some too. He is a gorgeous little man who will be a fabulous addition to your family as an only dog but I think he would love being with a calm, confident, older dog to show him the ropes.
Εθελοντές ενισχύουν την προσπάθεια του Φιλοζωικού Συλλόγου Σητείας Η προσπάθεια του Φιλοζωικού Συλλόγου Σητείας ενισχύεται σημαντικά από εθελοντές που κάποιοι από αυτούς διανύουν πολλά χιλιόμετρα προκειμένου να φτάσουν στη Σητεία και να προσφέρουν τη βοήθεια τους. O Mike και η Carol έρχονται από την Αγγλία εδώ και 15 χρόνια για να ενισχύσουν την σημαντική αυτή προσπάθεια που κάνουν οι εθελοντές του Φιλοζωικού Συλλόγου Σητείας και που όπως ομολογούν και ίδιοι φαίνεται να φέρνει αποτέλεσμα.
Ενισχύστε την προσπάθεια του Φιλοζωικού Συλλόγου Σητείας για την απόκτηση του δικού του αξιοπρεπούς χώρου.Όπως δήλωσε στα ΣΗΤΕΙΑΚΑ η πρόεδρος κα Κουνελάκη Δέσποινα είναι ο μόνος τρόπος για να λυθούν τα προβλήματα που αφορούν την φιλοξενία και φροντίδα των αδέσποτων του Δήμου.
4 Οκτωβρίου. Παγκόσμια Ημέρα των Ζώων. Ημέρα δράσης για τα δικαιώματα και την καλή διαβίωση τους. Σε μια κοινωνία που αλλάζει έχουμε σύμμαχο τη Διεθνή Ένωση Αστυνομικών, τοπική διοίκηση Λασιθίου, που απέδειξε εμπράκτως την προσφορά της στο Φιλοζωικό Σύλλογο Σητείας. Μαζί συνεχίζουμε για να εξαλειφθουν φαινόμενα κακομεταχειρησης όλων τη μη ανθρωπίνων πλασμάτων. Γιατί “τι είναι ο άνθρωπος χωρίς τα ζώα; αν εξαφανίζονταν όλα τα ζώα, ο άνθρωπος θα πέθαινε από τη μεγάλη μοναξιά του πνεύματος.” (αργηγος Σιάτλ 1786-1866, φυλή Ινδιάνων Σουκουάμις)
October 4th, was world animal day! We have an ally in the International Association of Police Officers, the local administration of Lassithi, which has proved its alliance to the Sitia Animal Rescue. Together we will continue to eradicate the ill-treatment of all non-humans. Why ‘what is man without animals? if all animals were gone, man would die from the great loneliness of the spirit’ (Seattle Trooper 1786-1866, Indians Soukamis tribe)
This weekend we sterilised 86 cats and 33 dogs. As part of our on going battle to try and reduce the stray population, the best way… at the route of the problem…. if we can manage to sterilise as many as possible, we should be able to start reducing the stray population. A huge thank you to Förderverein Arche Noah Kreta e.V. who provided the vets.
A big Thank you to Nikos Pandermalis who made the video for us, and his continuing help with taking photos to help spread our story.
And also a huge thank you to all our wonderful volunteers, without your help the weekend would not have been such a huge success, each of you was a massive help….. The animals and us thank you .
Come and see how we got on by watching our video below…
English follows…Αυτό το τετραήμερο στειρώσαμε 86 γάτες και 33 σκυλιά.Ένα τεράστιο ευχαριστώ στην Förderverein Arche Noah Kreta e.V. και τους κτηνιάτρους τους.Και επίσης άλλο ένα σε όλους τους υπέροχους εθελοντές μας, χωρίς τη βοήθεια των οποίων δε θα είχαμε τόσο μεγάλη επιτυχία…This weekend we steralised 86 cats and 33 dogs. A huge thankyou to Förderverein Arche Noah Kreta e.V. who provided the vets. And also a huge thank you to all our wonderful volunteers, without your help the weekend would not have been such a huge sucess, each of you was a massive help….. The animals and us thank you .Thankyou to Nikos Pandermalis who made and edited the video for us
