Our dog shelter

Our dog shelter was finally emptied thanks to the adoption of the three dogs we had been hosting, which means that we can now continue the work that we began earlier to maintain the safety and comfort of this small canine compound.

Using bamboo taken from another area where it wasn’t needed, we created a sheltered area to protect from the summer sun and the autumn winds.

We also added new gravel to the ground since it protects the dogs from the mud when it rains. It took over one hundred sacks of gravel to cover the area, which will help keep the dogs clean and dry. We also laid fresh hay in the doghouses. All of this was done in time to welcome two new canine members to our facility.

Next, we must repair the roof so that protection from the rain will help to make the shelter a truly comfortable enclosure.

If you would like to help us with the maintenance of our dog shelter, you can make a contribution here: https://tinyurl.com/Donate-AZI

Our work on Amorgos is dependent on your donations. No donation is too small!

We thank you and wish you the very best during this trying time.

Ivan is Adopted

In early November, we were very concerned that Greece might be entering another lockdown due to the pandemic and prevent us from getting Ivan to his flight to Holland. But by grace and good fortune, we managed to get our beloved Ivan to the airport, and thereafter to his new home in Holland.

Lucky for him, this sweet fellow got on on the very last ship from Amorgos to Athens just before the lockdown began. Then our amazing volunteer, Julia, hosted him in her home in Athens for two days before she and Pepi escorted him to the airport. From there, the wonderful Corina from the Mirtos Animal Project came from Holland and escorted Ivan on the flight to Holland.

Finally, late on Sunday evening, Ivan arrived at Schiphol Airport and into the arms of his new mum. We wish them both a long and beautiful and happy life together, sharing love and companionship. Ivan in particular loves to be hugged so we send him so many warm hugs to accompany him in his new life.

Lemonaki

Lemonaki gazes at her childhood photograph which was taken at our program coordinator’s home nine years ago. Back then, she was a tiny underfed two-month-old kitten found in Katapola square in Amorgos.

But, through grace and good luck, she was adopted by an amazing couple, Malin and Emilio, where she now lives a safe and happy life in Sweden and treated like a queen.

Thank you Malin and Emilio!!

Update on Bolec and Lolec

The latest rescue of two orphaned kittens, Bolec and Lolec, has been a great success. (See their original post here.)

These two are very happy, affectionate, and playful and would be a wonderful addition to a warm and loving home. What about yours? They will entertain you nonstop!

Preparations for winter

Winter is just around the corner so preparations have begun both at AZI’s Center and at our equine shelter so that our animals will have warm shelters during the cold months. The roof of the stable at the equine shelter received a fresh layer of primer and insulating paint. This will help protect the wood from wear and to offer more insulation to the stable.

In addition to the many cats who live inside our Center, we have a number of stray cats who live around our Center. For these cats we have made little houses in our garden which have been filled with hay to offer more warmth, safe shelter, and protection from rain and wind.

A few weeks ago we cleaned the garden, tidied our food and sand supplies and pruned the plants. We are now ready to welcome winter!

Our first customer! These shelters are made for cats like him, who live outdoors around our Center. This one jumped right in even before we were finished, and seems grateful for a soft and safe place to rest.

Winter Spay/Neuter Program

NOTICE: An extended sterilization program is being planned for early next year (Jan-Feb 2021), in order to cover more effectively all the villages here in Amorgos. This is an essential program, as we are seeing a rise the illegal use of pesticides to poison cats. This program aims to prevent an overpopulation of cats and thereby protect existing cats from being targeted with poison.

To achieve this we have created a GoGetFunding campaign to raise the amount needed to cover the various and many costs of this program (veterinarian fees, medicines, surgical supplies, etc.). Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated. This work so valuable to maintain the balance of the cats on the island and which ultimately benefits the community here as well.

To donate specifically for the sterilization program, click here: AZI Winter Spay/Neuter Program

We are grateful to our loyal supporters and all who join us in this cause. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

AZI Slideshow

The video below shows some of the sweet cats and dogs (and a goat!) we have rescued so far in 2020. So many kittens came to us sick and malnourished and now they are beautiful, healthy cats. Some have been adopted but many others still need a loving and safe place to call home.

We can do this with only with the help of our supporters like you. Your contributions are crucial, so please give what you can. No donation is too small! Each creature that comes to our Center gets a chance at a better life. We tend to the sick, feed the hungry, and search out good homes for as many as we can.

Donate here: https://tinyurl.com/Donate-AZI

WARNING: Some “Before” images are graphic.

Update on Kanelos

Kanelos, whose story we posted a short time ago, has been given the legal right, by order of the Prosecutor of the Court of First Instance of Naxos, to be rescued by Animal Zone International.

See his original story here: https://www.animal-zone.org/news/2020/4/24/the-rescue-of-two-dogs

After nearly six months with us at our Center, Kanelos has finally found his forever home in Holland. He will be given the love that he was denied in his first year and now this sweet young dog will be able to give back the love that so clearly fills his special heart. Kanelos is living now with another dog, named Mila, and two cats.

We want to thank Mirtos Animal Project and their team for all of their help in finding a home for Kanelos. From Julia and Wensley who escorted Kanelos to Simone and her family who so lovingly opened their hearts to this handsome boy. We wish a long and happy and wonderful new life to our dear Kanelos!!

Our work on Amorgos is dependent on donations so we ask for your help in saving these innocent creatures. Please make a contribution today! https://tinyurl.com/Donate-AZI

Bolec and Lolec

Recently two newborn kittens arrived from the area of Rachidi in Katapola. We learned of their existence because their constant crying was keeping people awake for several nights. Fortunately we arrived just in time. These two helpless kittens were not even a month old, malnourished, dehydrated, and clearly abandoned. It seemed that their chances for survival were slim. But, after five days of feedings of two or three drops of milk throughout the day, they began to eat on their own and gained strength and their health. Now, they are feeling better and starting to play together. We welcome them and wish Bolec and Lolec a long and happy life.

Melenia and Marianna

Marianna arrived in our Center in Oct 2019 when she was only two months old, a tiny undernourished kitten both blind and deaf and suffering from a number of neurological problems. Born in a garden in the area of Katapola, Marianna was cared for by the owner of the garden who had allowed a colony of cats and kittens to call his garden home. When he realized that Marianna had serious health issues he turned to AZI for help, and since then she has been under our care. Unfortunately, her eyesight and hearing were permanently damaged so could not be saved, but we felt that she was healthy and happy enough to be adopted.

Melenia had come to our center two months before Marianna, a tiny kitten only two months old with serious injuries from being hit by a car. She was given very low chances of survival but in spite of this, she proved to have great strength and a powerful will to live. Melenia had also lost her vision due to the impact but over time it returned and the only lingering result of her injury now is a slight limp. Her moving story is told here: https://www.animal-zone.org/news/2019/12/2/the-miracle-of-melenia

The stories of Marianna and Melenia merge with the story of two visitors to Amorgos from Germany. During their holidays two years ago they found a very sick cat in the streets of Aegiali and they learned about our center when trying to rescue this cat. Although we tried our best to save this cat, unfortunately, it did not survive.

Time passed, Kris and Lauren were ready to adopt a pet, they decided on a cat from our island in memory of the one they had tried so hard to save. We had only Marianna and Melenia available at that time, both special needs cats, but the caring couple decided to adopt both.

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the wait to receive these two cats was long but finally, Melenia and Marianna have joined Kris and Lauren to become one family. Our coordinator Litsa traveled with the cats from Amorgos to the airport in Athens and Kris arrived from Munich to take these two sweet cats home.

We give our heartfelt thanks to Kris and Lauren, a lovely and amazing young couple, and we wish the four of them a long and very happy life together. We will miss our sweet special girls but we know that they will be warm and safe and enveloped with love.

Update on Yupi

Yupi arrived safely in his new home in Belgium. The people of the shelter there will do their best in order to give this handsome boy the special care he needs. Thank you all!

Kanelos

Kanelos was found living alone on a mountain slope, chained between two barrels, a very lonely and undernourished fellow, but, in only a short time, after his rescue, he responded to our care and attention and soon he learned to trust us and he became transformed into a happy, active and playful dog with no resemblance to the frightened boy that we first met.

On 30 September 2020, Kanelos left Amorgos to be with his forever family, a family that is ready to love him and keep him safe and well. We send our great good wishes to Kanelos. Very soon you will have the life you deserve and you will live in the warmth of your own home. We will post updates and photos from his new life as soon as we have them!

Kanelos as we found him

Kanelos at our Center in Amorgos, playing with Casper.

Yupi

When he came to Animal Zone International’s Center, he was a bony creature with a respiratory problem and severe diarrhea. After a few days, we discovered he had a very serious condition — partial paralysis of the large intestine and a malfunctioning sphincter, which caused the incontinence and frequent infections, etc.

We’re told it was possibly caused by a stroke. But we know an animal in this condition cannot survive in the streets and adoption is not so easy for special needs cats. So we turned to a shelter in Belgium which is known to take on difficult cases.

Happily, Yupi was accepted and on 29 September 2020, he traveled to the Netherlands where he will stay for a few days before he heads to Belgium in order to be evaluated by experienced rescuers. We hope against hope that he will find his own home as he is an absolute cuddly sweet creature.

We want to acknowledge all the caring people who started the chain of events that saved him. From the tourist who picked him up from the streets of Tholaria, the volunteers who took care of him at our Center, Marina who accompanied him on the ship from Amorgos to Piraeus, Pepi and Daniel who picked him up from the port of Piraeus and hosted him at their house for a few days and accompanied him to the airport, Sophie and Jelle who accompanied him on the flight, Juliet who picked him up in the Netherlands, hosted him for a few days, and drove him all the way to Belgium to deliver him to the shelter who agreed to take him in.

This show of love and care makes us very optimistic, knowing there are many who do not remain indifferent and rather are willing to work together to help a small creature very much in need.

We hope that our little Yupi will be well —as well as possible. We wish you a good start in your new life and we hope that you will soon find your own family who will accept you as you are.

Ntinos

In July 2020, two-month-old Ntinos came to us suffering from an eye infection and respiratory disease. We began an intensive treatment that cured the respiratory problems but the infection left his eye with impaired vision. Still he carries on beautifully and the problem is not a serious one.

Soon we will return sweet Ntinos to his neighborhood unless someone is willing to adopt him. Life in a warm home is always better than the life on the streets, and as friendly kitty, we hope a loving family will come forward and give him the happy life he deserves.

Orfeas, before and after

Orfeas came to our Center in May 2020 after being rescued from the streets along with his sister, Evridiki. They were not quite two months old and were living with their mom in the area of Kastelopetra, next to the central road in Katapola – Chora.

We never like to separate kittens from their mothers but unfortunately both kittens were suffering from respiratory disease and eye infections to such a degree that we feared for their survival. Now, even though their health is greatly improved, they have severely impaired vision or are blind due to the infection.

Blind kittens cannot survive on the streets, much less next to a busy road, so we have kept them with us and they are now playful and happy five month olds. They are healthy aside from their eyesight and would love to be in a new home. Would you consider adopting these sweet siblings?

Our work on Amorgos is dependent on donations and we ask for your help in caring for Orfeas. Please help us as well in finding him a loving home. We and Orfeas would be ever so grateful! https://tinyurl.com/Donate-AZI

Rescue of an Injured Buzzard

In August 2020, we received a telephone call from a local resident who had found an injured bird in a remote area of Amorgos. The bird, a common buzzard of the species Buteo buteo, had a serious fracture on its left wing.

The injury seemed to be an old one because it was just skin and bones due to its inability to hunt. And because we are not equipped to care for wild birds we contacted the Aegean Wildlife Hospital, ALKIONI, and sent the injured bird on the first boat leaving Amorgos to Paros, where they are located.

The bird has done well under the care of the amazing Marios Fournaris and we believe that it will soon be released back into nature. There is only a small deformity of the wing due to the fracture but the specialists at the hospital believe it will survive and thrive in the wild.

We want to thank the Aegean Wildlife Hospital, ALKIONI, for its excellent cooperation with AZI and we congratulate them for the great work they do.

Baby Hawk Rescue

Early this summer, June 2020, a baby hawk (of the species Falco tinnunculus) was found by tourists visiting the monastery of Chozoviotissa. The baby hawk had fallen from its nest and could not be returned to the high rocks where the nest had been built.

Since there was a danger from prowling feral cats these kind tourists brought the baby hawk to us at our Center. This is not our area of expertise so we contacted the Aegean Wildlife Hospital ALKIONI in Paros. This baby bird was sent to them on the first boat leaving Amorgos for Paros.

After a few months, the baby hawk has grown up under the care of the amazing Marios Fournaris and it was recently released back into nature. We want to thank the Aegean Wildlife Hospital, ALKIONI, for its excellent cooperation with AZI and we congratulate them for the great work they do.

 Here is a small video of the chick when he was in AZI's care:

Scenes from AZI's Center

Jerry

In June, Jerry arrived with his siblings at our Center when they were not quite two months old. These small babes suffered from the usual respiratory disease and eye infections but after treatment and intensive care, they have fully recovered and now are active, playful and cuddly kittens—which means that they are available for adoption.

Unfortunately Jerry’s left eye never fully recovered — it is so badly damaged that he must undergo surgery and therefore, it also means that we are searching for cat lovers who can make a contribution to his care.

Please help us to help Jerry and make a contribution today! We and Jerry would be truly grateful! https://tinyurl.com/Donate-AZI

Heracles

In August 2020, Heracles came to us at the Center with a broken right front leg. Since he was unable to walk, we decided to hold the bone in place with a small cloth cast and to keep him stationary in a hospital cage.

After twenty-five days, Heracles now runs and jumps and plays and his injury is long forgotten. Soon, Heracles will be released back into the area he comes from and the kind owners of a nearby café have promised to care for him. We wish sweet Heracles a long and happy and carefree life.