Care for stray animals on Paxos
stray animals
22 Jan 2022
/ 10:26
PAXOS. Fay Lichnou tells us what is happening in Paxos following the news that the Inter-municipal Animal Shelter in Corfu is being put out to tender.
Following the article in Enimerosi about the Inter-municipal Animal Shelter in Corfu being put out to tender, Fay Lichnou tells us what is happening in Paxos.
Paxos does not have an animal shelter - just a municipal small animals' clinic. Nevertheless, 60 stray dogs have been caught, sterilised, vaccinated and adopted over a period of three years (2018-21). We only had four cages available to us in the yard of the municipal veterinary surgery. Paxos Municipality paid for their construction as well as for a week-long seminar by a specialist from Athens so that we could learn about the proper way to catch these dogs.
Four volunteers shared the daily following of packs of dogs so that we could catch them and then feed, care for and train them as well as seek their puppies and parents. Of these, 27 were adults (born in the municipal landfill or abandoned) and the remainder puppies.
Leo was a puppy born in the landfill in 2020 and now lives in Lakka, Paxos.
Today there are no stray dogs in Paxos - for the time being, at any rate.
At the same municipal veterinary clinic every year approximately 500 cats have been sterilised and 600 stray animals and birds cared for since 2013. There are feeding spots for stray cats throughout the island, which are looked after solely by volunteers. It is estimated that approximately 550 cats are fed every day in Paxos and Antipaxos.
1. Paxos Municipal Small Animals' Clinic started to operate officially in autumn 2013 and just a month later someone left a box with 10 puppies outside.
Seven puppies born in the landfill in June 2019
2. All the equipment at the municipal veterinary clinic was bought and is repaired and replaced by the Animal Welfare Association. There is a fully-equipped surgery with oxygen supply, medical equipment, medicine, cages, traps etc.
3. The clinic has been operating for eight years and still nobody has been employed by the Municipality for any of the jobs required - administrative support, feeding, catching strays, sterilisation and medical care, coordinating the network for adoption of strays etc. Everything is done by volunteers.
4. Volunteers carry out the above tasks, either on a daily or a weekly basis, using their own transport and at their own expense.
5. During the summer, sterilisation slows down as nearly all the volunteers are employed in tourism.
6. Approximately 80% of the municipal veterinary clinic's expenses are covered by the local Animal Welfare Association and human resources come solely from the Association and a group of volunteer vets and nurses. What will happen if, for some reason, the Association and/or the volunteers cannot continue?
The surgery at Paxos Municipal Small Animals' Clinic
7. Despite the fact that the clinic has specific needs (based on the average annual sterilisations, care, food for strays and a specific budget for materials and medicines), there are months-long delays in receiving any funds from the municipality, leading to difficulties in the collaboration between vets and tradespeople.
8. The pandemic worked to our benefit as volunteers have had more time available over the last two years.
In short, we have been able to work well in the circumstances but there is no certainty or stability. It is essential that this serious issue is dealt with by the authorities with volunteers being there to offer assistance. The bureaucracy and the lack of interest - even though each Mayor has expressed their support - as well as irresponsibility and criminal indifference and/or abusive behaviour from some citizens could lead to a very difficult situation in a very short time.
Corfu is a large island with a lot of stray dogs and cats, so an animal shelter is absolutely necessary. But it is not enough just to have a nice building. A shelter to accommodate 40 animals needs to have a significant number of trained and dedicated staff, which can be supported by a network of dedicated volunteers on a daily basis.
Any local authority needs to take this work seriously and with a sense of responsibilty. It is not only a building that is required, but a lot of other infrastructure as well, such as the following:
1. An adoption network needs to be set up, which will contribute to the preparation of animals prior to adoption and providing any special care needed for animals in their homes.
2. A means of checking on those who wish to adopt so that there is always an alternative and animals are not abandoned once again.
3. Proper communication with the public, the responsible ministry, the municipal finance department, the municipal department responsible for stray animals, justice authorities and the police as well as suppliers, vets, animal welfare groups and hunting clubs.
Primary and secondary schools also need to become involved. It is necessary to raise the awareness of children and to educate them in the proper way to look after animals so that there is less abuse and fewer animals are abandoned.
The decision of the local authority to set up an inter-municipal animal shelter and to put it out to tender quickly is commendable. It will fulfil a significant role in Corfu if it is properly staffed, funded and supported by the local authority. Otherwise, it will become a burden and the focus of negative reports by the media.
Paxos Municipal Small Animals' Clinic in Magazia
Fay Lichnou
Founding member of PAWS-Paxos
Member of the Paxos Municipal Committee for Policy and Management of Stray Animals
Municipal Vet Clinic / PAWS | Facebook
Paxos does not have an animal shelter - just a municipal small animals' clinic. Nevertheless, 60 stray dogs have been caught, sterilised, vaccinated and adopted over a period of three years (2018-21). We only had four cages available to us in the yard of the municipal veterinary surgery. Paxos Municipality paid for their construction as well as for a week-long seminar by a specialist from Athens so that we could learn about the proper way to catch these dogs.
Four volunteers shared the daily following of packs of dogs so that we could catch them and then feed, care for and train them as well as seek their puppies and parents. Of these, 27 were adults (born in the municipal landfill or abandoned) and the remainder puppies.
Leo was a puppy born in the landfill in 2020 and now lives in Lakka, Paxos.
Today there are no stray dogs in Paxos - for the time being, at any rate.
At the same municipal veterinary clinic every year approximately 500 cats have been sterilised and 600 stray animals and birds cared for since 2013. There are feeding spots for stray cats throughout the island, which are looked after solely by volunteers. It is estimated that approximately 550 cats are fed every day in Paxos and Antipaxos.
1. Paxos Municipal Small Animals' Clinic started to operate officially in autumn 2013 and just a month later someone left a box with 10 puppies outside.
Seven puppies born in the landfill in June 2019
2. All the equipment at the municipal veterinary clinic was bought and is repaired and replaced by the Animal Welfare Association. There is a fully-equipped surgery with oxygen supply, medical equipment, medicine, cages, traps etc.
3. The clinic has been operating for eight years and still nobody has been employed by the Municipality for any of the jobs required - administrative support, feeding, catching strays, sterilisation and medical care, coordinating the network for adoption of strays etc. Everything is done by volunteers.
4. Volunteers carry out the above tasks, either on a daily or a weekly basis, using their own transport and at their own expense.
5. During the summer, sterilisation slows down as nearly all the volunteers are employed in tourism.
6. Approximately 80% of the municipal veterinary clinic's expenses are covered by the local Animal Welfare Association and human resources come solely from the Association and a group of volunteer vets and nurses. What will happen if, for some reason, the Association and/or the volunteers cannot continue?
The surgery at Paxos Municipal Small Animals' Clinic
7. Despite the fact that the clinic has specific needs (based on the average annual sterilisations, care, food for strays and a specific budget for materials and medicines), there are months-long delays in receiving any funds from the municipality, leading to difficulties in the collaboration between vets and tradespeople.
8. The pandemic worked to our benefit as volunteers have had more time available over the last two years.
In short, we have been able to work well in the circumstances but there is no certainty or stability. It is essential that this serious issue is dealt with by the authorities with volunteers being there to offer assistance. The bureaucracy and the lack of interest - even though each Mayor has expressed their support - as well as irresponsibility and criminal indifference and/or abusive behaviour from some citizens could lead to a very difficult situation in a very short time.
Corfu is a large island with a lot of stray dogs and cats, so an animal shelter is absolutely necessary. But it is not enough just to have a nice building. A shelter to accommodate 40 animals needs to have a significant number of trained and dedicated staff, which can be supported by a network of dedicated volunteers on a daily basis.
Any local authority needs to take this work seriously and with a sense of responsibilty. It is not only a building that is required, but a lot of other infrastructure as well, such as the following:
1. An adoption network needs to be set up, which will contribute to the preparation of animals prior to adoption and providing any special care needed for animals in their homes.
2. A means of checking on those who wish to adopt so that there is always an alternative and animals are not abandoned once again.
3. Proper communication with the public, the responsible ministry, the municipal finance department, the municipal department responsible for stray animals, justice authorities and the police as well as suppliers, vets, animal welfare groups and hunting clubs.
Primary and secondary schools also need to become involved. It is necessary to raise the awareness of children and to educate them in the proper way to look after animals so that there is less abuse and fewer animals are abandoned.
The decision of the local authority to set up an inter-municipal animal shelter and to put it out to tender quickly is commendable. It will fulfil a significant role in Corfu if it is properly staffed, funded and supported by the local authority. Otherwise, it will become a burden and the focus of negative reports by the media.
Paxos Municipal Small Animals' Clinic in Magazia
Fay Lichnou
Founding member of PAWS-Paxos
Member of the Paxos Municipal Committee for Policy and Management of Stray Animals
Municipal Vet Clinic / PAWS | Facebook
