Though much fewer in number than cats, dogs do not lead a healthier or happier life in Amorgos. Several dogs are kept tethered to a tree or post, completely isolated in very remote areas of the island, subject to mudslides, with no food, water or shelter. Their masters misuse them as shepherd dogs and believe that a mistreated dog responds more efficiently to their needs. They have no idea that properly trained sheep dogs do exist and can perform their duties routinely without having to be tortured and kept isolated. Eight of them, semi-abandoned by their masters, are cared for by Lamia, a very active volunteer. She visits them daily and gives them food and water. Animal Zone has provided wooden dog houses so the animals can have shelter from the weather which can become quite severe in the winter months. But upon visiting them and observing the unhealthy conditions in which they live, it is clear that much more needs to be done.
Let’s take a look at the life of the dogs under AZI’s care. There are some little lights visible in the dark, one only has to make quite an effort to see them and evaluate them. For instance:
The manager of the municipal camping where, thanks to the mayor, we have set up houses for the stray dogs Koutcho and Fovitziari, complained at the beginning of the tourist season about the presence of the dogs. He claimed that they barked so much that the camping guests could not sleep. Luckily, the mayor was not so easily convinced and replied that he would handle any complaint that would come from the camping guests themselves and no sooner. So our two dogs are still living their happy camping-life and even enjoyed some extra attention and/or food from camping guests. Fovitziari, the frightened one, definitely has gained more confidence and courage.
Where most passers-by (in their car or on their motorbike) enjoy the beautiful Amorgian landscape without a second thought for the chained dogs in the view, Vicky, a Greek woman from Athens, while enjoying her holiday on Amorgos, decided to file an official complaint about the situation of those poor dogs she saw chained-up along the road. She had done the same on the island of Karpathos and that case will be brought to court there soon, we hope (after three years!). However, within 2 days after the complaint was made, the dogs disappeared from their place and were found in a dirty, barren and desolated field, where the shepherd who owns the dogs often ‘parks’ a dog he doesn’t use for a while. Two out of the four dogs there did not have any shade and were forced to endure the burning August sun. When we saw the situation, we improvised some protection for them with some crates and pallets. They could hardly wait until we were finished to crawl into their shady spots.
When asked, the shepherd made it clear that the dogs would go back to their usual spot within a couple of days, and so they did. Was it coincidence that Vicky was on her way back to Athens at the time? Oh well, problem solved!
A Dutch woman, Mariette, who adopted the dog Myrto in January 2009, visited Amorgos this summer and participated in four days of dog care organized by Lamia, a local volunteer. This included preparing their food, dividing it up, then a stopping near the village to fill the water bottles and continuing to visit the different spots where the dogs are chained. At almost every one of these spots there are also lots of cats that come running as soon as they hear the familiar sound of the car and, of course, they also get some food. Mariette described the dog rounds as ‘a mobile animal shelter as well as a mobile ER’ due to the many times we come across a dog or cat that needs medication, mostly painkillers or antibiotics.
After returning to Holland, Mariette has decided to take in one more Amorgos-dog to give him a better life while waiting for definitive adoption. It will be a difficult choice to make—which one of the dogs will get the change to go to Holland? We would like very much old Papous, with his dislocated leg and long history of loneliness, to be adopted, and we will do our best to help with this adoption.