A Beacon of Hope 7 April 2008
Wee-J (the kitten in the banner) died in my and Will’s hands on the 4th of February 2008 from feline enteritis, a deadly disease with no known cure that killed dozens of cats in Mavrovouni alone this winter.
It's been a terrible winter for cats on Symi. In the autumn when the enteritis first appeared, there was cat poo all over the place and it became quite an issue as it was always soft and messy and usually on people's doorfronts (and shoes too) or on the steps with dozens of fresh piles every day. This quite possibly made the cats appear more of a nuisance to some residents and in November there was a mass poisoning. One morning the area was just littered with dead cats. It took away Shell & Pretty Kitty, two cats we loved to bits and have featured a lot in the SymiGreece photos over the last summer, as well as 6 other of the cats that we fed, and these were just among the cats that we were feeding . Mikroulis, our big boy, was missing for two days and when he returned he was very unwell and it took a week for him to recover; it seems he didn't get a sufficient dose to finish him.
We've had about 25 cats in the two and a half years that Will and I lived here, ones that we feed regularly and have named; we only have 6 left. Many, many kittens have also been killed by the local tomcats, one of our cats lost 3 of her 4 kittens this way before she and the remaining one were poisoned. Keeping the cats fed in the winter is important, but disease, poisoning, and tomcats are a bigger threat to them. SymiGreece regulars may have read subsequent posts on Symi Chat and MySymi about Will playing doctor and vaccinating our remaining cats (twice) against feline enteritis (as well as cat flu), but obviously having people doing a vets’ job is not a good-enough solution for Symi in the long-term.
It became apparent that there is only ONE solution that is long-term, sustainable and gives hope to the animals: VETS FOR SYMI. Symi, like many small Greek islands, has been unable to provide a full-time veterinary surgery with the income it needs to survive.
It's been a terrible winter for cats on Symi. In the autumn when the enteritis first appeared, there was cat poo all over the place and it became quite an issue as it was always soft and messy and usually on people's doorfronts (and shoes too) or on the steps with dozens of fresh piles every day. This quite possibly made the cats appear more of a nuisance to some residents and in November there was a mass poisoning. One morning the area was just littered with dead cats. It took away Shell & Pretty Kitty, two cats we loved to bits and have featured a lot in the SymiGreece photos over the last summer, as well as 6 other of the cats that we fed, and these were just among the cats that we were feeding . Mikroulis, our big boy, was missing for two days and when he returned he was very unwell and it took a week for him to recover; it seems he didn't get a sufficient dose to finish him.
We've had about 25 cats in the two and a half years that Will and I lived here, ones that we feed regularly and have named; we only have 6 left. Many, many kittens have also been killed by the local tomcats, one of our cats lost 3 of her 4 kittens this way before she and the remaining one were poisoned. Keeping the cats fed in the winter is important, but disease, poisoning, and tomcats are a bigger threat to them. SymiGreece regulars may have read subsequent posts on Symi Chat and MySymi about Will playing doctor and vaccinating our remaining cats (twice) against feline enteritis (as well as cat flu), but obviously having people doing a vets’ job is not a good-enough solution for Symi in the long-term.
It became apparent that there is only ONE solution that is long-term, sustainable and gives hope to the animals: VETS FOR SYMI. Symi, like many small Greek islands, has been unable to provide a full-time veterinary surgery with the income it needs to survive.
On the day Wee-J died (4th of February), I emailed a well-known Greek charity exploring the possibility of getting voluntary Greek vets to come to Symi and set-up a practise on regular intervals. I received a very encouraging reply two days later praising our initiative with a promise to spread the word round on our behalf.
I was worried that nothing would happen, until a month later (on the 3rd of March), I received an email from a vet in Thessaloniki, in the north of Greece, expressing her interest to come to Symi to work on a voluntary basis for a week together with a colleague of hers from Athens. We were over the moon! Over the next week the initial excitement proved to be very well-founded as a total of 11 vets have come forward to give their support and willingness to come to Symi over the next few months. It became clear that we were in the process of starting something big that could benefit the animals of Symi in a way never thought possible before. The first two vets wanted to do a visit as early as Greek Easter-time as this was the most convenient period to take time-off from their own practises and work at the University.
It was only a month and a half away with practically nothing planned but we thought we should give it a go. I contacted a number of people on the island to see what they thought of the idea and it became clear very quickly that this was a unique opportunity to make a change and it would be a shame to let it slip simply because of short timelines.
It was the 23rd of March when we decided to go ahead with the initiative. Irini, who had already started a campaign against poisoning on behalf of the Friends of the Animals of Symi, and myself met with the Mayor of Symi Mr Lefteris Papakalodoukas on the 27th of March and asked for his and the Council’s formal support. The Mayor was very supportive to our initiative and all the paperwork was done, printed, stamped and signed within an hour (thank you Vagelio!).
During the past week, we have secured the accommodation for the surgery and the vets, which is donated by Kalodoukas Holidays, as well as tickets and transportation (car hire) donated by Symi Tours. We have also gave our initiative a name, FAROS, hoping it will be a beacon of hope for the animals of Symi, and have created a web-page in both English and Greek.
But that’s only the start. Within the next 3 weeks we need to create and equip the vet surgery from scratch. This is a mammoth task that is also quite expensive but we are determined to make it happen. I have a big list of surgical equipment, furnishings, medicines, vaccinations, etc. etc. that we must purchase by the 29th of April when the surgery will formally open. My estimate is that the cost will run to about 2,000 Euros for the first visit (NOT including what has already been donated to FAROS) as we need to set-up the surgery properly. For subsequent visits, the cost will only be a fraction of that, so if we can do it once, we will be able to do it almost as frequently as once a month. We are looking for sponsors; businesses as well as anyone who is willing to donate to the FAROS Symi Animal Fund. If you want to donate, please click the “DONATE” button below. It only takes a few seconds.
I plan to update this blog every couple of days or so, and in my next update I will give you a detailed list of what we need to buy. The list I have is all in Greek with some very medical-I-have-no-idea-what-they-are items, so I need some time to translate it, but it covers almost everything that a vet surgery needs to operate legally and safely. FAROS would certainly not compromise on that.
Please do help us if you can!
Christos
I was worried that nothing would happen, until a month later (on the 3rd of March), I received an email from a vet in Thessaloniki, in the north of Greece, expressing her interest to come to Symi to work on a voluntary basis for a week together with a colleague of hers from Athens. We were over the moon! Over the next week the initial excitement proved to be very well-founded as a total of 11 vets have come forward to give their support and willingness to come to Symi over the next few months. It became clear that we were in the process of starting something big that could benefit the animals of Symi in a way never thought possible before. The first two vets wanted to do a visit as early as Greek Easter-time as this was the most convenient period to take time-off from their own practises and work at the University.
It was only a month and a half away with practically nothing planned but we thought we should give it a go. I contacted a number of people on the island to see what they thought of the idea and it became clear very quickly that this was a unique opportunity to make a change and it would be a shame to let it slip simply because of short timelines.
It was the 23rd of March when we decided to go ahead with the initiative. Irini, who had already started a campaign against poisoning on behalf of the Friends of the Animals of Symi, and myself met with the Mayor of Symi Mr Lefteris Papakalodoukas on the 27th of March and asked for his and the Council’s formal support. The Mayor was very supportive to our initiative and all the paperwork was done, printed, stamped and signed within an hour (thank you Vagelio!).
During the past week, we have secured the accommodation for the surgery and the vets, which is donated by Kalodoukas Holidays, as well as tickets and transportation (car hire) donated by Symi Tours. We have also gave our initiative a name, FAROS, hoping it will be a beacon of hope for the animals of Symi, and have created a web-page in both English and Greek.
But that’s only the start. Within the next 3 weeks we need to create and equip the vet surgery from scratch. This is a mammoth task that is also quite expensive but we are determined to make it happen. I have a big list of surgical equipment, furnishings, medicines, vaccinations, etc. etc. that we must purchase by the 29th of April when the surgery will formally open. My estimate is that the cost will run to about 2,000 Euros for the first visit (NOT including what has already been donated to FAROS) as we need to set-up the surgery properly. For subsequent visits, the cost will only be a fraction of that, so if we can do it once, we will be able to do it almost as frequently as once a month. We are looking for sponsors; businesses as well as anyone who is willing to donate to the FAROS Symi Animal Fund. If you want to donate, please click the “DONATE” button below. It only takes a few seconds.
I plan to update this blog every couple of days or so, and in my next update I will give you a detailed list of what we need to buy. The list I have is all in Greek with some very medical-I-have-no-idea-what-they-are items, so I need some time to translate it, but it covers almost everything that a vet surgery needs to operate legally and safely. FAROS would certainly not compromise on that.
Please do help us if you can!
Christos
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Updated 07/04/2008, 11:50, hits