OUR ACTIVITIES

Feeding Every day, we feed nearly 100 cats in two central Athens parks. These cats have all been abandoned by their owners, either as kittens or when they got older and the owners’ circumstances changed or they simply grew bored of their pet.

 

We bulk-buy tinned cat-food and dry cat biscuits, which we mix together for a healthy combination, and we always ensure that the cats have access to clean water. We do not feed household leftovers. We are careful to leave no mess or rubbish behind us, and we encourage casual feeders to do the same in order not to antagonise other citizens, who might take out their feelings on the cats. 

 

Neutering Neutering of stray cats is the most important step towards humanely reducing the overpopulation. According to various animal rescue organisations, a single unneutered cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 kittens in seven years. In addition to helping reduce the surplus of unwanted kittens, neutering a cat means it will be healthier (less risk of ovarian, testicular or breast cancer, no risk of sexually transmitted diseases), cleaner (no territorial marking), less aggressive, and significantly less likely to get run over or otherwise meet a sticky end when wandering in search of a partner.

 

In collaboration with local vets, we neuter/spay every new cat that gets dumped in the parks where we feed, so that no kittens are born there. In the first half of 2007, we neutered five female cats and three male cats. After the traditional summer influx of cats abandoned when their owners go on holidays, we had a further four female cats and two males for neutering. (We also had seven new kittens that needed vaccinations, deworming and, when they are old enough, neutering.)

 

In addition, through the Greek Cat Welfare Fund, we organise neutering programmes in wider areas of Athens as well as on the islands. This year we arranged for nearly 500 stray cats to be neutered in Athens and on Poros, Spetses, Ithaki and Kefalonia, and we hope to be even more successful next year. We also caught and neutered stray cats in the area around the Acropolis and in Patissia.

 

 

 

Re-homing The surroundings may seem idyllic, but the cats we feed are in great danger. Dogs have killed eighteen of them in the last year. Many people assume that only the weakest cats succumb to this fate; however, eight or nine dogs versus one perfectly healthy cat still results in tragedy. The dogs kill the cats for fun, not food; the attacks are triggered the boredom of life in park and the pack mentality.

 

Fundraising Once a month, we take part in a car-boot sale/bazaar organised by SPAZ charity, selling our old clothes and household objects as well as some donated items from friends. We also arrange fundraising dinner parties and coffee mornings: in October we enjoyed a fun and festive buffet evening courtesy of Café Boheme in Kolonaki. For news about upcoming events, check our Facebook and Myspace pages and the community announcements in the Athens News, as well as this site.

 

Treatment We also provide medical treatment for the cats we feed when they are ill or injured. This year we had nine of the park cats treated by the Athens veterinarians with whom we work: one cat had a hernia, three had mouth problems, one had a haematoma on her ear, one had an abscess on his paw, one had a chronic skin complaint, another had ringworm, and one elderly cat had kidney problems.


In 2007, we have been contacted twice in cases where elderly people have died, leaving cats behind them. Unfortunately, it is extremely hard for us to help as we don’t have shelter facilities where these poor cats can be kept, and finding homes for older cats is well-nigh impossible. But we tried our best. Each healthy cat was neutered and kept at the vet while we desperately looked for homes. In the end, we found outdoor homes for seven of the cats, where they will have food, water and shelter, if not the love and attention that they had grown up with.

 

So by far the happiest, most rewarding part of our work is when we find good homes where our cats can live out the rest of their days in safety. We try especially hard to re-home the kittens, which have fewest chances of survival. This year we were able to find responsible, loving homes for eight kittens, as well as for five older cats – one of which, Rooney, was adopted by one of our volunteer feeders! At present, we have three cats in foster homes still patiently waiting for a family to fall in love with them.
RESCUES

Kipseli area: Early December, one of our volunteers received a phone call from a distressed lady who informed us that a cat had been trapped for 15 days inside the building of the Public Health Practice of Athens Municipality on Chanion 4b street. The volunteer went there carrying a cat trap with some food in and next second the poor cat was inside the trap. The employees were feeding the cat but not sufficiently enough because when the cat went to the vet for a check up she was found very thin, dehydrated and extremely scared. After she was treated and got some weight back, she was neutered and was adopted by a cat lover who lives in Marousi with 20 more ex stray cats.

 

Acropolis area: Late November  we were informed by the police that someone had died and had left behind 3 cats that needed to be taken as there was no known relative. 2 of ours volunteers with the police escort went to estimate the situation and were appalled to see the conditions in which this poor person and the 3 cats were living. Next day, 2 other volunteers, again with the police escort, picked the cats from the apartment and drove them to the local vet. One of them stayed at the vet’s for further treatment as he was suffering from kidney failure and the other 2 after being neutered they were adopted. The neighbours very kindly donated us 180 euro for the cats treatment and general expenses. We are very grateful for their kind offer.

 

Zappion Main Building: One of our black cats one day in December 2007 just went missing. We all started thinking of the worst, that dogs caught him and killed him as many others of our poor stray cats. And then, some ten days later, Ioanna who was feeding at the time in the area, heard this heart breaking crying from the top of the building of Zapion. She tried to call the fire brigade but guess what… they wouldn’t come. Another volunteer went there the next day and tried to find the poor cat, searching for some time the huge terrace of the building but in vain. It had been raining all day so he was hiding.

 

A rescue team was organized for the second day and he was successfully caught and released in the park. He was painfully thin but happy to be free again  to see his old friends who had missed him all those days and even happier to have a full tin all on his own!

 

See our Adoptions page for more details.