We’ve told you before about the terrible situation of street dogs in a rundown area in Greece called Aspropyrgos, a dumping ground for unwanted animals.
Every week, our team goes there to find, feed and medically treat abandoned dogs, and every week we encounter dog horror, hardship and cruelty for dogs who were once someone’s pet.
The coronavirus means things are about to get even tougher for street dogs.
More than 90 abandoned dogs are entirely dependent on the food and medical care we and our partners Ghost Dogs take to them, but the Greek government has just forbidden people to go out.
Without us, dogs will die.
As we write this, our team is seeking special government permission to continue our vital work, while taking every precaution to keep our team healthy. Don’t worry, we will find a way to keep dogs, and our team safe. We must for the animals.
Remember, almost every one of these dogs was once someone’s pet. We need to show them that we have not abandoned them, as their owners did. For many dogs, our visits are the only joy they ever have.
Over the next six months, the dogs will eat 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilos) of food and somehow, we must find the money to buy it and the protective gear our team needs to tend them.
Imagine the betrayal and hurt these dogs must feel when they are tossed away like trash!
Recently, we found Tommy, an elderly Chihuahua who had clearly been someone’s pet - until he got sick. Then he was dumped in Aspropyrgos. This poor little fellow urgently needed food and medical care. He had no street smarts and no chance of survival in a place where motorists seem to aim at street dogs rather than avoid them. So, he crawled under a forklift truck in a factory yard and there he made his last stand.
A chihuahua’s last stand!
hen a forklift driver started the engine, a man spotted Tommy and the driver stopped the engine. The forklift could not move without killing him. Our team was called and rescued the poor little creature who was trembling from fear and sickness. The sad part is that we couldn’t save him. We rushed him to a vet, provided him with the best of care, stroked him and fed him. After ten days, he seemed to be on the mend. Alas, it was not to be - the poor dog one morning lay down and died, perhaps of a broken heart at being abandoned. This sadly is a common story.
The good news is that often we create happy endings.
Dogs like Casper…
He is the cutest little fellow; when we found him, his eyes were being eaten by maggots. We saved his life, but not his eye.
Dogs like Hope…
Hope was found lying at the side of a road, just barely alive but still breathing; the victim of hit and run. We rushed her to a vet where X-rays showed a fractured skull and bones broken in eight places.
In an emergency life-saving operation, a team of vets carefully pinned the bones together. It was touch and go but he made it.
Dogs like Remus…
Remus was a walking skeleton, full of open sores and carrying two diseases. We financed his rescue, provided veterinary care and found him a home.
As bad as their situation is, without the help of animal lovers like you, it is about to get worse. We need your help to buy 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilos) of food to get these poor dogs through the harsh winter – when temperatures drop and the dogs are lashed with rain and snow. We need at least $2,500 (£2,000) to buy the food, even with the discount we manage to negotiate. Your donation would really help.
For animal lovers like us, it’s impossible to know about a situation like this and not feel terribly sad that human beings can behave so badly to dogs who love us so much. We know that helpless feeling that comes when you just don’t know how to help.
That’s why your donation today is so important. It will really make a difference to the lives of poor abandoned hungry dogs. With your support we will help as many animals as we possibly can.
For the animals,
Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founders Network for Animals
P.S. We need to feed every street dog in Aspropyrgos this winter. The dogs have only us to turn too. Please, it will really help if you can make a generous donation today.