A lot of work in January and February

Jack with his broken leg
Jack, the stray dog that was hit by a car in Limenas and who's broken leg was operated by vet Stathis in Kavala, is doing a lot better but he doesn't use his leg yet. The fracture was complicated. Stathis had to straighten the bone ends and probably a nerve was damaged. But with physiotherapy, time and a lot of love it will heal.

Five dogs were sterilised
In January 5 dogs were still waiting to be sterilised. Because the winter on Thassos was very cold this year, we needed warm places where the dogs could recover for a couple of days. We were lucky that Henk & Petra, Ludwig and Angie offered to foster them and they could finally be sterilised, and after they could go to the HalfWayHouse.
To our big surprise and joy Henk and Petra, who fostered Daisy after the surgery, totally fell in love with her and decided to keep her. So Daisy found her forever home on Thassos.

Cry for help on Facebook
The sterilisations and the surgery of Jack were very expensive (almost 1,000 euros) and we put on Facebook a call for help, as we no longer had financial room. Our account of ACT had dropped to 0. It still takes a little time until April, when we can again collect money for ACT with the flea market and our handmade products. Dear people have been able to help us over this hurdle, so we have a little more air. We thank you very much for your donations, you are great!

Unlucky Lara
Lara is the stray dog from Limenaria that was supposed to be adopted by a tourist. Unfortunately the lovestory ended sadly: the man got health problems and died in Kavala hospital.
That's how Lara came in our care in October 2016 and was tested positive on Ehrlichia. Because of this and low blood plates we couldn't sterilise her. We gave her antibiotics and had to wait till she was healthy again. On February 6th her sterilisation was planned and the vet discovered a malignant tumor in her uterus. Poor Lara, so much bad luck… We didn't want to put her through more tests, chemo etc. What quality of life would she have? So that left us with 2 options: put her to sleep or wait and see how she would get on. That is the worst of choices we have to make, decide about life and death. Lara was always a happy playful dog and we decided not to put her to sleep. This means that she has to be monitored all the time so that we can quickly see if Lara has pain and her quality of life is no longer there. She couldn't go back to the HalfWayHouse and Joop and Tanja decided that she could stay with them for the time she has left. We sincerely hope that this time will be in the distant future.
Lara is doing well and we are very happy about that.

Jack

On Christmas day 2016 we got a phone call about a dog hit by a car in Limenas. None of our contacts in Limenas could be reached, so Tanja drove to Limenas herself. The family that found the dog was so kind to wait with him until she arrived.
Vet Konstantina Pistela was called and she was there in 5 minutes. Her conclusion was a broken paw, but high up the leg so it needed surgery.

Tanja took the dog home and in the days after Christmas she and vet Nikos tried to find an orthopedic vet who could do the job. It was then that we found out that around Kavala there was no vet who could do it, except for Stathis Simeonidis, who was not there, and the university clinic in Thessaloniki was closed for the holidays. There was nothing we could do but wait.

Finally we got an appointment with the clinic in Thessaloniki at January 9th where the dog had to stay overnight. So everything was arranged, a room was booked and then on Sunday… it started snowing like it haven't been snowing for years!
It was impossible to travel and the trip was cancelled. Poor Jack, as we called the dog, had to wait longer.

After a few days of snow we started to make new plans and to our great relieve we found out that Stathis was back! A new appointment was made for the 16th in Kavala. At least Petra and Tanja didn't have to travel so far.

As if everything had to go wrong with Jack the ferry from Prinos to Kavala didn't go because of strong wind, but fortunately it was possible to leave from Limenas.
After the X-ray it was clear that the broken ends of the bone ended up next to each other, but Stathis was confident that it could be fixed and he probably would be able to use his leg normal again. After a couple of hours we could pick the dog up again, he had a nice orange bandage on his paw. He will be on painkillers and antibiotics for the next days and on Thursday he can have the bandage removed and then we can start physiotherapy.

All and all it cost us over € 400 to help the little guy, but it is all worth it. Especially when you see what a lovely kind and gentle dog it is. Later, when he is recovered, he will be vaccinated and castrated and then he is ready to move to a loving family.

If you think Jack is the perfect dog for you please contact us! It would make Jack very happy, and us of course.

In the car on his way to Kavala

Preparing for the X-ray

Just before the operation

After the operation

Back "home" to recover

Newsletter No 5

WE WISH YOU AND YOUR ANIMALS 

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY GOOD 2017!

Here you can read our newsletter.

Collars and leashes

Sometimes it is not easy to find the right words, especially if it is about donations that we need for the animals on Thassos.
But however well meant, sometimes the quality is not very good and we like to explain this further.

It is about collars and leashes for dogs that we always need for small and bigger dogs and for puppies. We are always very grateful when you send us a parcel with collars and leashes, but unfortunately some are of poor quality.
Leashes of which the fastening clip simply breaks, or the loop at the end is glued (instead of sewed) en soon lets loose.
Collars with plastic click clasp that gets loose very easy, or adjustable collars which widen again.

Until now nothing serious happened, but you can imagine how dangerous the situation can get when a dog gets loose on a road with traffic or when a fearful dog runs off.

We are sorry to say that we had to throw some of your donations away, which of course is a waste.
That's why we want to ask you to check the quality of the collar/leash you want to donate. We prefer to use synthetic leather collars with holes. This proved the safest.

In short, better one good dog collar/leash than 10 of poor quality. Nothing feels as bad as throwing away lovingly donated items.

We hope for your understanding and look forward to new sound collars/leashes. The animal's safety is simply our priority.

Monthly supporters

Having a bigger enclosure means room for more dogs, means more costs for food and medication.

We are very happy with the fact that we have 6 supporters who donate monthly a certain amount of money, which at least cover the costs for the rent of the plot and the dog food for the dogs that are in our care now.

Taking in more dogs brings the responsibility to take good care of them and you can only do that if you are sure you have money for that.

And besides that we want to go on with our neutering project of the feral cats, which also costs a lot of money. Last year we spent 4,650 euro on castrating cats and dogs.

So how nice would it be to have some more financial supporters!
Please help us to get a stable financial base and be one of our monthly supporters. And we are not necessarily talking big money here. Remember if only 10 of you donate 5 euro a month, it gives us the certainty to buy 2 big bags of dog food.

For the sake of the animals we hope to persuade you to be one of our monthly supporters.