April Report

[Symi Animal Welfare]

Easter on Symi has been as noisy as always, the firecrackers, explosions and gunshots, thankfully seem to have finished. Anyone visiting the island over the last week will have noticed so many local customs, traditions and enjoyed an extra bonus of terrific weather. We have received no reports of animals either injured or killed by fireworks and naturally, all the rescue animals were well cared for by their new owners during this period.

The street animals too can be seen basking in the sunshine with bellies full from a continuous supply of food scraps in the rubbish bins! Families celebrate by eating vast amounts of traditional food, either oven-baked or barbecued. After serious fasting for Lent, the pulses, pickles and flat breads are forgotten, this of course means delicious meat and fish leftovers for the cats. Easter marks the beginning of a new season and over the next month, more visitors will return. Already several animal-loving friends who have been here before, have contacted us asking what they should bring over for the animals, many enquire after a particular cat or dog who they remember from a previous visit.


The visitor who alerted us to a tiny kitten, found in a plastic bag inside a rubbish skip, last September, was on Symi recently. Tasha as he named her, came to live with us and is growing rapidly. John, even though he was only here for a few days, found out where we lived and came along to see her, he was delighted to see how well and strong she now is. Tasha however, had long forgotten her 'finder' and was quite indifferent to John's obvious pleasure at meeting her again - that's cats for you eh!?


The four abandoned puppies are all doing very well. You may find one of them at French Frederiki's clothes and accessories shop, just up from the Kalodoukas office, she gave a home to the last one of the quartet. The FAROS vets are on the Island from 16 -18 April. Two animals who will most certainly be attending the surgery will be Tasha the Tortie kitten and Leon the black and white pup.

Thank you for your messages of support throughout the winter, we look forward to seeing you again later in the year.

Melanie, Hazel, Claudia, Tove and Christina