Symi Animal Welfare – Spring Report 2017
Today I hand over to Symi Animal Welfare who have sent this Spring report and photos for posting:
It’s Spring time on Symi, with glorious sunny days and calm seas… The island has emerged from its usual winter ‘hibernation’, and the port is suddenly a hive of activity as the locals prepare for the new season. So, it was a perfect time for us to organise a vet visit, with lots of street cats now out & about in the sunshine. We arranged for our favourite Rhodos vet to come over for a weekend, and ‘set up’ in the house that we use at the back of the port which is in an ideal location, very quiet but with easy access. We are indeed very fortunate to have use of this private villa for the vet visits and would like to thank the owner for his generosity.
The vet, Panayiotis, was assisted by his lovely wife Maria, as the veterinary nurse, and we had a very capable and enthusiastic group of helpers to assist the SAW team. There was much to be done, in only 2 days and both Saturday and Sunday were quite intensive! The target was for 35 cats, but we are pleased to report that a total of 38 cats were neutered, 14 males and 34 females and that 2 male feral cats were euthanised as they tested positive for feline HIV.
The vet brings his own equipment and drugs, but this time one process was made easier as we have acquired a new sterilisation machine, kindly donated from a clinic in Germany! We would like to thank all the cat ‘carers’ and ‘catchers’ who gave donations for the vet visit, and the helpers & volunteers who gave up their time to assist us. Most of all we would like to thank Panayiotis and Maria for their tremendous hard work and dedication which made this vet visit a great success!
A formal report on our Cat Neutering Programme has been submitted to the Greek Cat Welfare Society, with a request for funding towards future vet visits. This summer SAW will have lots of new collection boxes in many businesses around the harbour and in Chorio. We rely entirely on donations, and all your support is very much appreciated.
We look forward to seeing many of our regular visitors again this summer on Symi, and lots of new faces too!
Best wishes from the SAW Team,
Suzan, Antonella, Christina, Hazel & Tove
