Lyn and Mark Purden have had a
holiday home on the Greek island of Aegina for many years, and
it was in 1995 that they actively started fundraising to help
the animals on the island.
In
time, an animal welfare group called Animal Respect developed on
Aegina, and most of the fundraising carried out by the
Friends of the Strays of Greece
has gone to support this organisation.
More recently, donations have been made to other
animal welfare groups in Athens, Samos, Chios, Angistri,
Thassos, Crete.
Zakynthos, Trikala,
Poros, Halkidiki, Skiathos and Felgandros.
and on the Island of Salamis & Corfu. Also a large
amount of support has, in the last few years, been given
to the dog shelter in Halkida'
Animal Respect has
developed a dog shelter which is home to some 130 dogs, all of
which are extremely well cared for in every way. The lucky ones
find homes mainly as a result of the hard work of the German
support group. Street dogs and stray cats are also routinely
fed, and veterinary care is given wherever necessary.
Our organisation pays most of the
monthly veterinary bills, transport for dogs to the UK, and
donations for general upkeep whenever funds permit.
We also organise
veterinary visits, and vets from Dorset, and from South
Africa, are regular volunteers.
The charity is happy to fund veterinary flights and
offer accommodation to qualified, experienced veterinary
surgeons.
Any such person needs to be flexible and confident at
'going back to basics' but will be rewarded with knowing
that they will really make a difference to the stray
animal situation and, as a result, will alleviate much
unnecessary suffering.
Most work is routine sterilisation but some tooth
extractions, and grass seed removal are necessary.
During 2009, our voluntary vets sterilised 465 animals
and carried out numerous other surgical procedures to
relieve unnecessary suffering' The vets have again
volunteered their services and will be there soon.
