The Final Days of Finn

 I named him Finn, I don’t know why … it just came to me.  A few days back, my pack created a huge commotion as I barely heard a car drive off.  I am leery of people dumping dogs close to my house so I suspected as much.  I made my way out to the road and there, opposite me, he stood frozen; a ghost of a dog.  He looked so fragile.  I didn’t want to scare him so I approached accordingly to make him comfortable.

Viva Virna!

After two days of barely moving, she finally started to eat and drink on her own.

     It has been quite a week.  Wednesday morning Virna was found, in her excrement, on the side of the road, her entire body twitching uncontrollably.  Someone had laced food with poison, a common practice here in Greece, with the intent to kill her.  After all we and our vets could do (pumping her stomach and the required inter-venous medication) it was up to her to fight the poison that had made its way through her system. Weak and unconscious, she was put on IV and cortisone. All we could do was wait and hope for the best.

Mission - Kitten Rescue

   Spending my summers in rural Greece as a child, I had witnessed various appalling behaviours towards companion animals. These behaviours were common practice then, some 30 odd years ago, and unfortunately still around today.  One such practice is abandoning new born unwanted puppies and kittens in fields, either in plastic bags or in boxes, to die of starvation and exposure or in garbage bins to be mulched up by the garbage truck. I have been made aware of other methods such as drowning the newborns in a pail of water, squishing them to death with a hoe or burying them alive. In a conversation years ago with someone, he explained to me he puts unwanted newborn puppies from his dog in an area he knows foxes live so that the foxes will eat them.  

A Case of Zoophilia

   For the past 10 days I have been dealing with a disturbing case of zoophilia.   An 84 year old man was literally caught with his pants down in the town square where I live.  He was seen early in the morning, of April 28^th, by another man sitting on a park bench. 

Elpida (hope) Needs Urgent Help

May 01/2014

   Elpida was abandoned most likely because  her owners didn't want to deal with her illness.  She wandered alone getting worse and worse. Thank goodness she came to my attention after a phone call from the principal at a local public school.  He wanted to have a dog that was causing a commotion removed from the playground.

Not Enough Words - The Amazing Human Dog Bond

    I have been trying to find the words to explain the miriad of feelings I get from the dogs I have around me.  I can never quite find the right way to define the joy/satisfaction/contentment/peace that comes over me when I am with them. It is everything about them that mesmerizes me

Puppies, Puppies Everywhere!!

This little guy was abandoned a few days ago with three little sisters (below).

     This time of the year is the worst for abandoned puppies.  Over the last few weeks, we have been faced with trying to accommodate 29 puppies, ages from 2 ½ months or less!! We don’t have a shelter; we are volunteers who find space in our homes and yards.  To start, if they are in a dangerous spot we move them somewhere less dangerous.  If our homes are full we start asking people we know if they can help in any way.  If our friends can't help we have to find a place to put them away from cars or people that might harm them until something better can be found.