We are delighted to share the fantastic news that a very generous foundation have supported us in funding a new veterinary clinic in Taxiarchis, Evia, for mass sterilisation, vaccination and treatment of cats and dogs!
Back in August, wildfires broke out in Greece following an unprecedented heatwave, with the island of Evia being one of the worst affected areas. The fires devastated acres of land and killed thousands of animals, including wildlife, farm animals, companion and stray animals. During this time, we collaborated with Artemis, an animal welfare group in Northern Evia, to support them in setting up a pop-up veterinary clinic in the village of Taxiarchis, to treat and care for animal fire victims on the island. A large container was donated by the Prefecture of Central Greece to house the clinic, and we provided the necessary equipment and supplies to get the clinic up and running.
We believe that sterilisation is the only humane way of managing the population of stray cats and dogs in Greece, and prevent animals from a life of suffering on the streets. Through our Sterilisation Programme, we operate a number of long-term projects across the country that aim to strategically reduce the stray population in those areas through sterilisation and population mapping. We therefore wanted to support Artemis in being able to continue using the clinic as a base for neutering and vaccinating animals, and as a standby emergency station ready to treat animals in case of another disaster or extreme weather conditions.
We are delighted to have 3 experienced veterinary surgeons and a team of volunteers committed to the project, and we plan to operate 4 outreach visits in 2022, each reaching a target of 100 animals. We are very excited to have turned a devastating event into a positive outcome, and can’t wait for our first outreach trip next year to see our vision of helping the animals of Taxiarchis, become a reality.
