First FAROS Vet Clinic: A Great Success 10 May 2008
It’s been a week since the first FAROS vet clinic took place on Symi with overwhelming success. We are proud that in the 5 days that the clinic was operating, a total of 55 animals were seen, free of charge, by the FAROS voluntary vets Tasoula and Christos. From cats and dogs to donkeys, goats, rabbits and tortoises. The treatment included vaccinations, checkups, neutering, general advice, as well as supply and prescription of medicines.
On most days Christos and Tasoula worked flat-out from 10 in the morning till 8 at night without even a break for lunch. When setting up FAROS a month ago we couldn’t have hoped for a better pair of vets to start off the FAROS initiative. They were not here to impress anyone with the speed of their work and were not interested in cutting corners in any way whatsoever when it came to the animals’ well-being. Instead they made sure everything was done properly, professionally and safely for the animals they took into their care. As well as this, they were kind and considerate to all the people who brought their animals to the clinic, and everyone associated with FAROS is proud to have met them and we hope they will come back to Symi and very soon too!
To read Christos’s and Tasoula’s own account of their visit to Symi, click here.
For this first visit we equipped the surgery at a cost of 1,952 Euros which includes equipment, medicines and consumables. Together with the flight tickets, the printing of the FAROS leaflets and other minor expenses (petrol, phone calls, cleaning) the total cost of the first visit was 2,946 Euros. Much of what we have bought can be used again at subsequent vet visits, and we estimate that each of these visits will cost FAROS about 1,000-1,200 Euros. For examples of the cost involved, click here.
FAROS would like to thank everyone who made the first visit possible and such a great success. Everyone who came up to Horio and helped with the day-to-day running of the clinic, including Stelios, our mascot; those who let us use their cat and dog baskets at such short notice; our lovely neighbours at the clinic for the hand-made goodies given to us every morning; Yianni at the pharmacy for all his help in getting hold of medicines and consumables during the vet week; the Municipality and Symi Radio for announcing the details of the vet clinic on a daily basis and everyone who phoned and/or came to the clinic to offer their support. Above all, a great thank you to our sponsors, George Kalodoukas from Kalodoukas Holidays and Kostas Sykallos from Symi Tours, and everyone who gave a donation so that we can continue to maintain the free vet service to Symi by giving whatever they could. Any amount, no matter how small, goes towards helping the animals and guaranteeing regular and free vet visits throughout the year.
Up to the time of writing, we have collected 1,301 Euros via donations (the figure includes donations during the week of the vet clinic, online donations as well as the FAROS music night fund-raising event at Syllogos restaurant last month). In other words, we have managed to recoup just under half of the cost of the first visit and we hope that with the continuing support of our sponsors and the people we will be in a position to meet all costs via voluntary donations without the need for the members of FAROS to use their own money to pay for any shortfall.
The first visit was only the start. FAROS aims to bring Greek voluntary vets to Symi to set up a free clinic as often as once a month throughout the year to provide care for all the animals of Symi (pets, strays and also work and farm animals). We hope to be in a position to equip the clinic even better next time round so that we can offer a wider range of service including more complicated examinations and operations as well as blood-testing.
We are already working towards the next two vet visits at the end of June and beginning of August respectively. The specific dates for both visits will be announced in the next few days. In addition, we hope to announce a very exciting partnership that will not only facilitate the constant supply of vets to Symi all year round, but also guarantee a standard of good practice when it comes to veterinary care on Symi. More details in the next few days!
On most days Christos and Tasoula worked flat-out from 10 in the morning till 8 at night without even a break for lunch. When setting up FAROS a month ago we couldn’t have hoped for a better pair of vets to start off the FAROS initiative. They were not here to impress anyone with the speed of their work and were not interested in cutting corners in any way whatsoever when it came to the animals’ well-being. Instead they made sure everything was done properly, professionally and safely for the animals they took into their care. As well as this, they were kind and considerate to all the people who brought their animals to the clinic, and everyone associated with FAROS is proud to have met them and we hope they will come back to Symi and very soon too!
To read Christos’s and Tasoula’s own account of their visit to Symi, click here.
For this first visit we equipped the surgery at a cost of 1,952 Euros which includes equipment, medicines and consumables. Together with the flight tickets, the printing of the FAROS leaflets and other minor expenses (petrol, phone calls, cleaning) the total cost of the first visit was 2,946 Euros. Much of what we have bought can be used again at subsequent vet visits, and we estimate that each of these visits will cost FAROS about 1,000-1,200 Euros. For examples of the cost involved, click here.
FAROS would like to thank everyone who made the first visit possible and such a great success. Everyone who came up to Horio and helped with the day-to-day running of the clinic, including Stelios, our mascot; those who let us use their cat and dog baskets at such short notice; our lovely neighbours at the clinic for the hand-made goodies given to us every morning; Yianni at the pharmacy for all his help in getting hold of medicines and consumables during the vet week; the Municipality and Symi Radio for announcing the details of the vet clinic on a daily basis and everyone who phoned and/or came to the clinic to offer their support. Above all, a great thank you to our sponsors, George Kalodoukas from Kalodoukas Holidays and Kostas Sykallos from Symi Tours, and everyone who gave a donation so that we can continue to maintain the free vet service to Symi by giving whatever they could. Any amount, no matter how small, goes towards helping the animals and guaranteeing regular and free vet visits throughout the year.
Up to the time of writing, we have collected 1,301 Euros via donations (the figure includes donations during the week of the vet clinic, online donations as well as the FAROS music night fund-raising event at Syllogos restaurant last month). In other words, we have managed to recoup just under half of the cost of the first visit and we hope that with the continuing support of our sponsors and the people we will be in a position to meet all costs via voluntary donations without the need for the members of FAROS to use their own money to pay for any shortfall.
The first visit was only the start. FAROS aims to bring Greek voluntary vets to Symi to set up a free clinic as often as once a month throughout the year to provide care for all the animals of Symi (pets, strays and also work and farm animals). We hope to be in a position to equip the clinic even better next time round so that we can offer a wider range of service including more complicated examinations and operations as well as blood-testing.
We are already working towards the next two vet visits at the end of June and beginning of August respectively. The specific dates for both visits will be announced in the next few days. In addition, we hope to announce a very exciting partnership that will not only facilitate the constant supply of vets to Symi all year round, but also guarantee a standard of good practice when it comes to veterinary care on Symi. More details in the next few days!
Updated 10 May 2008, 22:48 // 343 hits