Merry Christmas!

We wish all our members, volunteers, supporters, fans and ACT-dog-owners a merry Christmas and a (animal) loving 2016!

Christmas party 2015

Last Saturday we enjoyed our third Christmas party, this time in the beautiful tavern Triantamias in Kalivia. On Friday we already decorated the tavern and brought the prices for the raffle. We were very excited, because this time there should be another surprise. Live music from Giorgos and Dimitris Kalpidis and this was, apart from the beautiful evening, the delicious food, being with nice people and the raffle, another highlight of our Christmas event. We could even welcome some villagers who were attracted by the live music.

We would like to sincerely thank these shops for donating prizes for the raffle:
Taverna Triantamias - Kalivia
Cava Saltaris - Limenaria
Supermarket Saltaris - Limenaria
Petrol station Patiras (Shell) - Kalivia
Gift Shop Aldebaran - Potos
Hair Spa Mary - Potos
Bakery Oganezov - Kalivia
Fish Shop Giorgos Blionis - Limenaria
Supermarket Harbi – Kalivia

We also thank Joop van Egmond for the live music, which he had donated for the evening.

And of course we must not forget Sotiris Berzamanis, the owner of the tavern Triantamias who made us a very good price for the whole evening and we therefore could collect € 191 for the animals.
That's really a nice Christmas gift!

We wish all our friends, acquaintances, families, donors, dogs, cats, helpers, members a wonderful Christmas and a great start of the New Year 2016.
Thank you all very much for your help.

Result donation boxes

Autumn has come to Thassos and all the collection boxes that we put out in the beginning of the season are collected again and the money is counted. We tried some new shops, some of them were very successful and some not. That is the only way to find out where the best places are to collect money for the animals.

We are pleased to tell you that "YOU" donated a wonderful total of € 960.78! Thank you very much!

Again we want to thank all the businesses for having our boxes:

LIMENARIA

Molly's Art Shop

Speedy Carrental 

Potos Carrental 

Vet Nikos Efthimiopoulos

Hotel Agali

Hotel Garden

Traditional Products Agro

Bakery Oganezov

Kafekopteio Papagioannou

Taverna Stelios

Taverna Loukoulos

POTOS

Hairdresser Stin Tricha

Taverna Hakuna Matata

Supermarket Gagos

Hair Spa Mary

Aegean Villas

Makedonia Hotel

THEOLOGOS

Shoeshop 

POTAMIA

Speedy Carrental

KASTRO

Taverna Kostas

SKALA PRINOS

Real Holidays

LIMENAS

Villa Daphne

Hotel Aetria

Most of the boxes were in the Limenaria/Potos area, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to put them elsewhere on the island. So if you have a shop on the island and think it is worth to have a collection box there next year, please contact us!

THANK YOU!

What would we do without Claudia and Klaus, our foster family in Germany?

We want to mention here on our website once again Claudia and Klaus, our highly appreciated foster family in Germany.
http://www.wuestenwolf.de/

Since 2004 Klaus helped the animals of Thassos, along with his wife Gabi who sadly died in 2008, and now with his current wife Claudia.
Since 2012 he helps us, ACT Animal Care Thassos.
And although Klaus is not the youngest anymore, he is the strongest and most sincere man who was always there for us if we needed help.

In Germany, we have no other foster families. It seems very difficult to find people who want to foster dogs until they find their forever home.
We have ended our co-operation with Sandra in The Netherlands (Stichting Dierenhulp Europa), and thus we would be hopelessly lost without Claudia and Klaus.

In addition, they (voluntarily) pay all expenses, such as gasoline, parking at the airport, transfers etc. themselves. Apart from all the work that they have at home with the dogs.

What more can we say… just that we are very very grateful to Claudia and Klaus.

We would have enormous problems if we would not have you!

THANKS!!!

Claudia and Klaus

The result of 3 Summer Bazaars

Last year in August we launched our first summer bazaar near the harbor in Limenaria and it was so successful that we had three summer bazaars this year. And again our summer bazaar draw the attention of a lot of people and the animals are lucky that, with your help, we were able to take a little more than 1,000 euro.

We are very grateful that you have visited us at our stands, bought our beautiful goods, donated and gathered information about ACT Animal Care Thassos.
Furthermore, we would like to thank the people who created these beautiful products that we have sold at our bazaar and helped us out with their cars and trailers. And also for helping with the construction of the stands and the donations of the raffle prices.
Not to mention the many shops that have donated us the other prizes for the raffle:

Garden Centre Skalistiri - Limenaria
Supermarket Charbi - Kalivia
Organic products Agro - Limenaria
Toy store Lazarou - Limenaria
Minimarket Christodoulos - Limenaria
Gift shop Ergastiri - Limenaria
Art Shop Molly - Limenaria
Hair Spa Mary - Potos
Clothing store Step by Step - Limenaria
Clothing store Glamour - Limenaria
Clothing store Idea - Limenaria
Clothing store Simoni - Limenaria
Souvenir shop Bazzar Corner - Limenaria
Taverna Stelios - Limenaria
Clothing store Bazzar - Limenaria
Pharmacy Katerina Ganitou - Limenaria
Taverna Triantamias - Kalivia
Hairdresser Stin Tricha - Potos

We especially thank Jackie and Alex, and Tanja and Joop, who organized all three bazaars, and have built the stands and dismantled again.

All three summer bazaars were of such great value that we will organize next year additional summer bazaars. We will try our best again to produce a lot of new nice things, and think of new surprises to help the animals on Thassos with your help.

Follow us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AnimalCareThassos

Just two 'ordinary' days of animal care

Saturday
We were called about two found puppies on the road close to Skala Marion. The young lady who nearly hit them with her car took them home and asked for our help.
We were desperate what to do… all foster homes were more than full.
We decided to call a couple to ask if they could help us out. To our great joy they said they would foster them.
One of us drove to the foster to bring the puppies in a transport box, which they made a total mess – and themselves – because they vomited all the time. So we had to clean the puppies and the box.
Back home, change clothes.
Over lunch 4 board members had a meeting to discuss vaccinations, passports, the planned transports of the puppies, who is driving to the airport, next summer bazaar etc.
During lunch a phone call: little kitten found all alone on the road to Kallirachi. The friendly tourists who fund her couldn't take care of her because they were leaving in two days. We answered that we were really having problems fostering animals, but promised to try our best to find someone.
Call a few people to ask if they could take a kitten. We were glad that we found someone to have her! So we called the tourists to tell them that we found a solution.
Ten minutes later we were called by the prospective adopter that they changed their mind and wouldn't take it!
We decided to pick up the kitten anyway, hoping we would find another solution.
Write, translate and publish a text for the website.

Sunday
Getting up early to bring a dog and a cat to the airport. Inform foster and new owner in Germany that check-in went well.
Pick up the kitten on the way back from the airport.
Write on Facebook that dog and cat left for Germany. Answer some emails.
A call from Theologos that the foster family suddenly brought the 2 puppies back, having changed their minds. They can't stay with Bella and her 5 pups, because Bella is too protective. So the pups were driven to Kalivia to stay with the J-litter. Drive back to Theologos.

And then we don't even mention that all animals (in the enclosure as well) have to be fed every day, twice a day.

Most of this is being done by 4 persons and we really really could do with some help, but getting help offered twice and then withdrawn again in two days time, didn't really feel like help to us, it only resulted in more work.
Still we have faith in people and would warmly welcome some new serious volunteers.

Many animals - little money

Was it in the first half of the year that we found 4 dogs that all had Leishmaniasis and had cost us about 1,000 euro, in the last 2 months we had an invasion of new dogs and puppies. Four adult dogs and eight puppies we took in. And, apart from food, they all need wormers, flea treatment, vaccinations, microchips and (the adults) castrations and blood tests.

We are trying to make money the best we can ourselves at the car boot sales, summer and Christmas bazaars, our annual Christmas party, with the collection boxes and we are grateful for every donation big or small… But this time we were not able to cope with the costs that we were facing.
So we decided to ask the Dutch organization Stichting Wereldasielen if they may be would be willing to support us again. And they said yes!!!!
We like to thank them from the deepest of our heart for being there for us when we need them most and for their generous donation, with which we can provide the best care to the new comer dogs.

That doesn't mean of course that we are not in need of individual donations anymore. We still need your help. We have 15 mouths to feed at the moment, and just yesterday we got a phone call about 2 found puppies. Also we want to go on with our cat castration program.
So please keep supporting us with your donations, every euro counts. Or maybe you want to virtually adopt one of the dogs with Leishmaniasis, and donate on a monthly base?
Without financial help our work would not be possible.
Thank you!

Making a garden "puppy proof"

Sometimes we have to spend money that is not being used for medicines, castrations, food or treatments, but for something to be able to help the animals in a better way.

Although we would like to have more foster families on the island, we are very glad with the few we have available, so we would do everything to support them and keep them happy.

As we all know puppies are very lively and naughty creatures and having them in your garden means a big risk for your plants, watering system, ornaments etc.
After having one litter after another destroying the garden more or less, Alex and Jackie now had the experience of 5 puppies that decided that they were the best gardeners in the world and they destroyed the watering system on day one! This couldn't go on like this. Fostering puppies is hard enough as it is, you really don't need the stress and the fear for your garden as well.

After some talking, was decided that ACT would pay for fencing a part of the garden. And at the same time to enlarge the sleeping area and put a roof over a small part of the place where they can go out of their sleeping area, to allow them to go outside but being protected from sun in the summer and rain in the winter.

Yes, this costs money, but it is necessary to keep animal and human happy.

So you see, as a foster family of ACT you do not stand alone, we do everything in our power to help our foster families on Thassos.
Are you living on Thassos and were you doubting whether to help fostering or not? May be this will give you the last push to call us and volunteer!

The entrance to the sleeping area

One very tired gardener ;-)

We have a bank account!

Finally, finally it is a fact: ACT has its own bank account.

It took a lot of patience and persistence, but it is done.

ACT has an account at the Peiraios Bank (ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΠΕΙΡΑΙΩΣ) in Limenaria.

The IBAN number is:

GR06 0171 0620 0060 6213 6774 937 (BIC: PIRBGRAA).

The ascription is: DRASI GIA TA ZOA THASOU

We look forward to the first donation to our account. What a joy that will be!

Leishmaniasis dog number 4

Sometimes this work really brings tears to your eyes…
Yesterday two persons contacted us close one after another about a very skinny dog on the road near Skala Marion.
Tanja went to have a look and met Kiki who was so kind to stay with the dog until she arrived. It was a big male pointer lying at the side of the road and he was really in a very bad condition. You could see all his bones, his paws were terribly swollen and had open wounds. The poor thing was obviously at the end of his strength. Kiki and Tanja were close to crying, but there was work to be done.
He was taken to the vet immediately and as we feared, the Leishmaniasis test was positive. He is now on Zylapour and antibiotics.
To make room for him we had to put the 2 setters Donald and Hero together in the bigger part of the enclosure. They already knew each other for a while so that was no problem. And we put Ingo, as we named him, in the smaller part where he just wanted to sleep after he had something to eat and drink.

We really don’t want to show only terrible pictures, but sometimes we have to. Because miracles do happen. Look at Donald and Hero who have been treated for Leishmaniasis and are now in a good condition. We can only hope that, in a couple of weeks we can show you pictures of Ingo with some flesh on his bones.

Thank you John and Kiki for caring and warning us and giving Ingo a chance!

Of course this means that we will have to spend big money for the Milteforan treatment, especially because Ingo is such a big dog (23 kg as skinny as he is). So any donation would be more then welcome now.

The donation boxes have been placed!

The tourist season has started and most of the collection boxes have been placed. You'll find them at the following businesses:

Molly's Art - Limenaria

Speedy Carrental – Limenaria, Potamia

Potos Carrental – Limenaria

Nikos vet - Limenaria

Hotel Agali - Limenaria

Hotel Garden- Limenaria

Traditional Products Agro – Limenaria

Bakery Oganezov – Limenaria

Ground coffee and chocolate shop Papagioannou - Limenaria

Hairdresser Stin Tricha - Potos

Taverna Hakuna Matata - Potos

Supermarket Gagos – Potos

Hair Spa Mary – Potos

Apartments Aegean Villas - Potos

Shoe shop – Theologos

Taverna Kostas – Kastro

Real Holidays – Skala Prinos

We hope this year on a good yield again and wish you all a good summer!

Kittens

In early May there were three kittens brought to the vet. Found in a garbage bin. The vet called us asking if we could have them. Well, unfortunately we do not have many people to help us with that and usually Tanja and Joop take them. But in addition to their own and shelter dogs, they had already 10 cats and 3 more really was a bit too much. Luckily we found a lovely couple from Theologos willing to take care of the kittens. Unfortunately, one of them died, but the others are doing well. They named them Greta and Heino. They are two real beauties, especially Heino with its white fur and bright blue eyes.
Walter and Marie, thank you very much!

And then the phone rang again last week: a Dutch hostess, living in Limenas, saw a mother cat with two children but the mother ignored one of them. The kitten was snotty and one eye was swollen and closed. It is simply the brutal nature that the mother then forsakes and focuses on the healthy child. But who can ignore such a small moaning thingy and slowly let it die? The hostess bought some kitten milk, and a bottle, and ointment for the eye. The little one still needs food every few hours and because of her work it was impossible for the hostess to do that herself. Tanja and Joop once again complied and took him from her. The hostess took the trouble to drive all the way to Kalivia to bring the kitten. Thanks Jolien!
Until now he is fine, though we fear that he must miss his eye. He is therefore baptized Pirate.


Should anyone want to adopt a kitten, then please contact us! Only this makes room for another foundling.

Annual meeting members

Yesterday ACT has had its annual general meeting of the members.
We would like to share some of the topics with you.

First of all we want to publish our financial figures of 2014, which were checked and approved by the Audit Committee, because we believe that transparency is most important.

Balance 2013                                                 + €   1.239,75
Tickets + transport dogs, boxes                     - €   2.904,81
Castrations/sterilisations                                - €   1.550,00
Vaccinations/medical treatments/chip/pass   - €   3.517,51
Dog food etc.                                                  - €      540,40
Other costs                                                      - €   1.042,87
Donations                                                       + €   3.741,49
Adoption money                                             + €   5.268,90
Car boot sales/selling goods/events               + €   1.838,46

In 2014 we have neutered 21 female and 10 male cats. And we are still going on with this program as long as our finances allow us.
If people on the island can help us by catching the stray cats in their neighborhood and bring them to the vet, please contact Tanja (6945949819). Of course the vet bill will be met by ACT.
In case you don't live on the island you can still help us continuing this important work by any donation big or small.
Also we have neutered 5 dogs.

We still have no bank account… This is very frustrating for us. After all the trouble of having the minutes of the elections translated in Greek and getting it signed again by all members, several trips to Kavala by our accountant to finally get a tax number, we are now waiting for weeks already for the bank to hear that their lawyer has approved our papers.
As soon as we have our account number, we will be more than happy to announce it on our website. Let's hope this will be very soon!

Our first summer bazaar in Limenaria was a big success. We are planning to have 3 this year: in the beginning of July, August and September. As soon as we have permission of the mayor we will publish the exact dates.

We are exploring the possibilities to home dogs in the UK. If any of our supporters in the UK can help us with information or otherwise, please contact us!

Annual General Meeting

On Sunday, May 20th, 2015 at 11:00 the annual general meeting will be held in Taverna To Steki in Kalivia.

All members have been invited by email.

Being a flight escort is not difficult

The story of a flight partner:

It is very early, still dark, my suitcase is packed. I leave Thassos today, as always with a heavy heart, but ... for the first time I will escort a small dog.
I'm excited for the first time I will be flight partner and guide a small puppy on his way to his new home.
I'm a little unsure though, because I do not know how the little one will behave in the plane and what I can do about it.
I carry my suitcase to the street and a few minutes later, the volunteers of ACT arrive, with the little puppy in a transport bag at the back seat with them. They are very kind and for the first time in my life I sit in the front seat of an English car, on the 'wrong' side.
We reach the ferry port and I start to relax more, because the two British animal charity workers, who have been living longer on Thassos, are very nice and explain everything to me and the little puppy sleeps peacefully.
We arrive on the mainland and a short time later at the airport. We park the car and the small dog is gently removed from the transport bag to make sure he has not wet himself. He did indeed, so it is cleaned and they put a new diaper pad in the bag. I am very touched by the loving care with which the dog is handled by the ACT people.
Together we go to the check-in desk and the procedures are smoothly. The lady at the counter looks at the passport of the dog and asks for some patience so she can copy the passport.
Then the time has come, the people of ACT hand over the pass and the little puppy to me, in whom I have already fallen in love. Also passing the security is without any delay. First I have handed over my hand luggage, since I have to take the dog out of the transport bag so that the bag can pass the scan. A short time later I sit with my temporary dog in the waiting area. Everything goes well, the little one curiously looks around him and some fellow passengers ask if it is my dog and where I come from. I kindly answer all questions, tell them about ACT and I enjoy to tell them the story of the little puppy and that in this way he can travel to his new family.
I take my seat in the plane and by the time we reached cruising altitude, I become aware that my worries were completely unjustified. The dog is quiet and sleeps most of the flight to Cologne.
A few hours later I hand over the dog to his new owner and I feel a little sad. In that short time I already have him in my heart.

And so my "first time" passed very quickly, and it was a beautiful first time. I knew it was not the last dog that I would help and would escort to a new life.
What did I have to do?
Absolutely nothing ... except to take the dog and hand it over again, everything else was perfectly organized. The dog that you help on its way to his new home has been medically examined, vaccinated and micro chipped and has a passport in accordance with the EU Regulation. The volunteers of ACT explain the entire procedure and guide the dog to the check in.

Since I usually fly with Germanwings, only small animals up to 8 kg (including transport bag) are allowed in the cabin. But that as well is prearranged, the transport bag is supplied and of course the cost of transporting the animal is paid by ACT or can be paid as a donation by yourself, what I happily do if I can.

On one of my later flights I flew with Air Berlin and could expand my experiences as a flight escort and brought a large pet carrier with three puppies. On the website of the airline company I had previously informed myself, as this time I had booked the animals transport myself. Again, everything was discussed precisely, every question answered and the animals accompanied until the check in, and everything was paid or will be paid when the transport is booked by the flight escort. Again they made sure that the animals do not lie on a wet floor or pad and if necessary everything will be cleaned and changed before check-in.
In case of big transport boxes that go into the heated cargo, the animals are taken out shortly so that the box can be scanned and then they are transported to the hold. Again there are certain conditions to be met by box and weight.
As a large transport box is special baggage, it is separately delivered after landing. At Dusseldorf airport I waited for my suitcase and next to the belt was the passage of special luggage, where a short time later, the box with the three puppies were brought by the airport staff. The staff was so kind to help lift the heavy box with its valuable content on a luggage trolly. After that it's only a few meters to the arrivals hall where the new owner or fosters are waiting impatiently for the dog(s) to arrive.

Later I flew at Thessaloniki because Germanwings and Air Berlin don't fly at Kavala during the winter. Again I notified ACT that I was available as flight escort and the beautiful puppy that I could take this time, was brought by an ACT volunteer to Thessaloniki. We met at the ferry and met up later at the check-in counter in Thessaloniki. Again, everything went smoothly and the dog now lives happily in the Netherlands.

Altogether, these were very nice experiences for me that I often think back of and I would do it again and again when ACT needs me.

Before I forget ... obviously ACT is pleased when the opportunity occurs that someone can bring back empty transport boxes or bags to Thassos. And that would even be less effort, but not as nice as when one can escort a small or large dog to a happy life.

Leishmaniasis

In the beginning of February a new Setter was found in Theologos. She was skin and bones and the couple that found her took her in and contacted ACT.
She was brought to the vet who first did some blood tests and as expected the Leishmania test was positive. Because of her poor state and the fact that she was drinking a lot, some blood was sent to the lab as well to see the extent to which the organs were affected. To our great joy it wasn't too bad and we immediately started the treatment with Milteforan and Zylopour.

After Donald, the male setter we found in Kalivia in December, she is the 2nd dog we have with Leismaniasis.
Leishmaniasis is spread by the bite of sandflies, most common warm coutries all over the world, and in Europe in the Mediterranean area. Symptoms may include sores on the skin, peeling, ulcers, loss of weight, bald patches, conjunctivitis, blindness, nasal discharge, muscular atrophy, inflammation, swelling, and organ failure, including mild heart attacks.
In principle, it is possible to treat the disease properly. However, there are dogs who die of this disease.

http://www.stray-afp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Leishmaniasis-in-Dogs.pdf

Donald has finished his treatment with Milteforan and now only gets the Zylopour. We can already see a big improvement. He is more lively, gained some weight and his coat looks much better.

The couple that found Peppa, as they called her, has decided to keep her. Of course we are very happy with that and ACT will pay for her treatment. It is too soon to tell how Peppa will respond on the medication, but we keep our hopes high.

Especially the medicine Milteforan is very expensive. For Donald only, it has cost us more than 200 euro. So we would welcome any donation towards the costs. Thank you in advance!

Newsletter No 3

In our 3rd newsletter you can read about the events of the past year.

Click here to read the newsletter.

Should you wish to receive the newsletter in future by email, please contact us.

Did you know that you can also read a lot of news on our Facebook page? (you do not need to be registered at Facebook)

Donald

This week setter Donald had his second vaccination and at the same time we did some blood tests for Leishmania, Ehrlichia and Dirofilaria. Unfortunately, the Leishmania test was positive.

We immediately started treatment and now he gets daily 2 tablets Zylapour (Allopurinol) plus Milteforan. After a month of good food he already has gained some weight and his fur looks better, so the vet has high hopes that the treatment will catch on quickly.

Altogether, the drugs are not cheap, especially Milteforan is very expensive. The total cost will be between € 250 and € 300. That's a big bite out of our budget, and of course we are grateful for every donation, large or small, to cover the costs.