Spring Sterilization Program

AZI's sterilization program was a success! We surpassed our goal of sixty cats by three: the final count was sixty-three cats in two days.

Thirty-four females and twenty-nine males are now protected against producing the scores of litters that leave too many fragile kittens suffering from malnutrition and infection across our island.

Most of the cats came from the area of Katapola. Two were from Saint George Valsamitis, six were from Arkesini, and one came from Tholaria (Aegiali).

We want to thank all of those kind residents who helped us to bring these strays to our center—it was truly an all-island project.

All of the cats are now back in their home territory except for three sick ones who were too weak to withstand the operation. We are now treating their wounds with antibiotics and hoping very much that all three will soon be strong enough to bear the procedure and be returned to their home areas.

Animal Zone International along with the Municipality of Amorgos funded the cost of the vet Dr. Manolis Vorisis, his transportation, as well as the medications and surgical materials that were necessary to make this program a great success.

As well, we want to thank the lovely Pension Anna (http://www.studioanna-amorgoa.com/) for hosting Dr. Vorisis at their wonderful hotel. Thank you all!

SPRING STERILIZATION PROGRAM FOR CATS

Animal Zone International, in cooperation with the Municipality of Amorgos, will be conducting a sterilization program for stray cats on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 of March 2018. The cost of the program will be covered by Animal Zone International and the Municipality of Amorgos.

Owners who do not wish their cats to be sterilized are kindly requested to keep them in their home on the two days when the program is being conducted or to place a collar around their necks so that our volunteers will not catch them.

As a reminder, according to Law 4039/2012, article 5, item g: The owner of the dominant pet is obliged to take care of its sterilization if he does not wish to keep the newborn animals or can not dispose them to new owners. He is also required to ensure the microchip and the recording of his animal as well as to issue a health booklet, but also to place a metallic badge on the collar of the animal, which is provided annually by the veterinarians during the annual rabies vaccination.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite arrived at our Center a few weeks ago, looking very unwell. She had serious infections in both her eyes as well as a respiratory infection. She had no appetite and was just skin and bones.

Now after a few weeks in our care, with proper nutrition and medical treatment, she has fully recovered and will so be able to return to her normal life. Doesn't she look gorgeous now? 

Ermis and Dias

Last May, two kittens were found left alone in a chicken coop and brought to our Center where they received health-restoring treatments. The Filozoiki's secretary Anna Maria brought the kittens home to live with her and her daughter Melina.

Melina fell madly in love with the kittens and named them Ermis and Dias. She sleeps with them, cares for them, and even sews clothes for them. What a thrill to know that Ermis and Dias have found love and joy in a safe and caring home.

We wish them all a long and happy life together. And a Happy Valentine's Day to all!

AZI Cats Video

A short video featuring a few of AZI's cats and their amazing transformations. Many conditions of these cats are typical of the cases that we see (eye infections, injuries, etc.). Part of AZI's mission is to prevent these common diseases with vaccinations and anti-parasitic treatments; a very simple method to create a much healthier environment for all to live. Please consider helping us to pay for the treatments and making a donation. Best of all these kittens grow up to be wonderful feline companions—perhaps you would consider adopting one, even if virtually!

AZI's Amazing Cats

At AZI's Center in Pera Rachidi, we care for the cats and dogs that have been rescued and are awaiting adoption. The animals have their own separate area but they can also choose to go outside and enjoy fresh air and the Amorgos countryside just outside the center.

While they have the company of the other cats and dogs, we would much rather that they find their own homes and families to live with. Please look through our adoption page here, and consider adopting one of these amazing and sweet animals. They are waiting for you!

New Beginnings for Lily

Until recently, it was not common practice for families of Amorgos to adopt animals from local welfare associations, but, in the last few months we have been thrilled to find that four of our animals from the Center have found loving homes.

Today, a small kitten only four months old has been adopted by a local couple who had lost their own cat, Melenia. Mr. Kostas Sigalas came to us hoping to adopt a kitten as a gift for his wife, Despoina, who was grieving over the loss of her beloved cat. Mr. Siglas chose little Lily, who, amazingly, looks much like their own Melenia.

Today, with tears in her eyes, Mrs. Despoina welcomed little Lily into her home and, because she spends many hours alone, Lily will be great company for this kind lady. A loving relationship has begun and we wish many many long years of happiness together for the Despoinas and their new family member.

Zizi

In May of 2017, little Zizi was abandoned, together with her brothers, outside of the primary school of Potamos in Aegiali.

After a difficult struggle her small brothers were not able to survive but little Zizi showed a gift for life that helped her to grow strong in her time at our Center. Now, Zizi has been adopted by a local family in Langada, Aeliali where she shares the love and care of a family with two young boys who clearly adore her.

We are thankful for another happy ending for another young member of the animal kingdom.
 

Sterilization program completed with success

Our two-day sterilization program on the 3rd and 4th of November has been a great
success. Over fifty-six cats -thirty females and twenty-six males- are now unable to
increase the number of feral kittens in the areas of Agiali, Chora and Katapola and
they are all in good health and have been released back into their home turf.

We want to thank Dr. Manolis Vorisis and his wife Nikoletta Delasouda for their
amazing work and for the kindness and generosity with which they have donated
their expertise to the feral cat colonies of Amorgos.

We also want to thank Mr. Michael Koveos for his generosity in providing accommodation for our two vets in his Anna Studios Pension.

The Municipality of Amorgos has been a great partner in this program as has the
local animal welfare association, “Filozoiki Merimna of Amorgos” and its many
volunteers as well as those wonderful residents of Amorgos who helped in this
important project sponsored by Animal Zone International.

And we have committed to another program to be held in March.

Our wonderful team, from left to right, Nikoletta Delasouda, Anna- Maria Markentoudi, her daughter Melina, Hariklia Psaki, Dr. Manolis Vorisis and Litsa Passari.

Little Melina was a great partner in helping to care for the cats after their surgeries.

Sterilization for stray cats

On Friday the 3rd and Saturday the 4th of November, Animal Zone International, in
collaboration with Amorgos Animal Welfare Society (Filozoiki Merimna of Amorgos)
and the Municipality of Amorgos, will carry out a sterilization program for stray cats
and kittens and the cost of this important program will be covered by Animal Zone
International.
We are asking anyone who is aware of stray cats in their area to contact us at the
following numbers:
The Animal Zone Internatioinal office: 22850-71716
Litsa Passari: 6974990045
As a reminder, we include the text of the Greek Law 4039/2013, article 5, item G:
“The owner of a pet is obliged to care for the sterilization of that pet and, if there
have been any offspring from that pet, to find homes for the newborns. The owner is
also required by law to register their pet as well as to ensure that a microchip is
placed in the body of that pet. At the required annual visit to a veterinarian for a
rabies vaccination, a metal badge will be given to be attached to the collar of their
pet providing proof of that vaccination.”

Fluffy's Good News!

Dear friends,

Fluffy, our beautiful and truly special blind cat, after staying at our Center for two years and despite being positive in FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency virus), has finally found her own home in Holland!

Mirtos Animal Project, an organization in Holland with which we cooperate, has found a new home where Fluffy will live with 2 dogs. (Her medical condition prevents her from going to a home with healthy cats.) 

Mirtos also found a flight escort for her which is great news. Animal Zone is responsible for paying for her transportation from Amorgos to the airport in Athens (boat and metro tickets), passport fees and health check up (microchipping and flea and tick prevention medicine) and carrying case. All of this will cost approximately 200 euro.

Won't you consider making a donation to help us send Fluffy to her forever home?

Donations can be made here, or if you wish to send money directly to Dr. Vasalakis, our vet, below is his wire transfer information.

Bank: PIRAEUS BANK
Ιban number: GR95 0171 3610 0063 6101 0072 331
SWIFT: PIRBGRAA
Name of the account: Vasalakis Dimitrios - Kontopidi Maria

(Please add a note: For Fluffy/Animal Zone Intl)

We are so happy for Fluffy and are grateful for our friends and supporters who wish her well. Please help if you can. 

Fluffy, our beautiful gentle blind cat

Fluffy gives many kisses to her canine friend Ektoras

When she arrived as a kitten in 2015

She's come a long way! We are so happy to know she will have a loving home in Holland

Little Zizi Takes Care of her Brother

Little Zizi, only three weeks old, came to our Center one week ago and, after receiving intensive care, she has begun to eat by herself. She has now transformed into a playful and active kitten.

Yesterday Zizi’s brother was brought to us in serious condition and Zizi has turned out to be the best of nurses. She stays with her brother and licks him and comforts him, and her miraculous care has brought him to the point that we believe this little boy will survive.

The family who had adopted him is looking forward to having him back home and they are seriously thinking of bringing young Zizi along with him. We certainly hope Zizi and her brother can be placed together.

You can see a small video of Zizi's sweet, attentive care here: https://youtu.be/5b2CsBC3zZw

Zizi’s brother arrives at the Center

Zizi cares for her brother

Zizi’s brother grows stronger.

Documentary about Aegiali Project cat sterilizations

In Amorgos we care for the health and safety of the island cats and their kittens but no animal in need is ever turned away from our center. The cats and dogs of this rocky island, the mules and horses and donkeys and goats and geese of Amorgos are all given aid and comfort by our extraordinary group of veterinarians and volunteers who even, at times, find themselves caring for a sick rabbit or a wounded hawk. Our Center is a hospital and a temporary place of shelter and recuperation. For some it has even become a permanent home. But there is so much more to do.

Will you help us keep this project alive, not only for these defenseless members of the animal kingdom, but, perhaps, also to serve as a model for other centers throughout Greece and beyond.

Please consider donating: we are in urgent need of help!

Little Voulitsa

Little Voulitsa was living with her mother, Voula, and her three siblings in an area where there had been serious outbreaks of disease and infection. Her mother Voula was released back into her home area after having been spayed but we felt that we could not allow Voulitsa to return with her mother since the area is extremely dangerous for young kittens.

Voulitsa is now six months old and she remains at our Center but she is available for adoption. If a home cannot be found for her, in spring when the weather is warmer, then Voulitsa will have to go back to her area.

We ask you to open your heart and home for Voulitsa. The life of a stray is a very hard life. Voulitsa needs a true home. She is now a healthy and active and playful kitten who loves to be hugged. What a gem!

Her microchip number is 941000016719360 and below, you will find photographs of the beautiful girl she has grown into.

Voulitsa arrived as a very sick kitten

After intense treatment, she became well

Now Voulitsa is a beauty

And playful too

Won't you adopt her?

Plume: The story of a special cat

Plume was born in the same building in which our Center is located and for ten years he had a loving family and a best friend in his very own mother. Unfortunately, due to the crisis in Greece, his owner, Francoise, could no longer find work and was forced to move back to her home in Switzerland. For Plume, this was the beginning of a series of tragedies that would change his world forever.

When Francoise left, his own mother died suddenly and Plume was left alone. We, at AZI's center, agreed to care for him. But the peaceful and quiet life that Plume had known did not prepare him for a place filled with so many cats that were in our care.

Plume decided that he was happier spending more time outside in the neighborhood but it soon became apparent that he had developed an infection. Our veterinarian treated him for respiratory disease and gave him antibiotics but when nothing seemed to help we decided to send him to Athens for a second opinion. The discovery of a nasal fistula began a series of three surgeries and five difficult treatments over a long period of time, all of which left Plume in need of a calm sanctuary.

Our dear friend in Holland, Juliette, became interested in Plume’s story and began to search for a home for him, but, because Plume had also been diagnosed with FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) he would not be able to live among cats who were free of the virus. Juliette and her friends found a shelter for cats in Belgium which seemed ideal for him, Buddy Kat: http://www.buddykat.be/

Nathalie, the wonderful woman from Buddy Kat, fell in love with Plume and agreed to take him into their section for cats living with FIV. First though, he would have to be examined by a veterinarian and treated again for the fistula and so Juliette escorted him from Amorgos to Holland where he stayed with her for two days before being fostered by Nathalie at the Villa Vagebond, http://villa.vagebond.com.

Plume remains at Nathalie's care at the Villa Vagebond as Nathalie fell in love with him. After going through a series of treatments, finally Plume seems to have overcome the problem with fistula.

Plume, in spite of all his problems, is still such a gentle and sweet cat that we hope, despite the fact that he is eleven years old, his time of suffering will soon end. We wish for him a loving home to live out the rest of his days. So many people have become fond of Plume along the way, and we have all done our very best to help him not only survive but thrive.

We wish him well on his journey forward. We hope for our dear Plume an old age of peace and loving understanding.

Plume in Amorgos, before his health problems started

Plume in our Center, being treated for infection

In Belgium, fighting to regain his health

Most recently, Plume doing well and in good health, despite his condition of being FIV

The Vaccination Program

Our vaccination program took place earlier this month, over the weekend of July 9th and 10th. It was completed successfully in spite of challenging conditions. The cats tend to hide away in the summer heat and we were only able to find them early in the mornings and late in the afternoons, but even with these difficulties over one hundred and seventy stray cats from the area of Aegiali have now been vaccinated for panleukopenia, calicivirus, rhinotracheitis and chlamydia as well as having been given pills for worming.

Many of the residents of the island have told us that there are still a large number of cats that hid so successfully we could not find them and it is our belief that from now on we should try to conduct our programs before the summer weather grows too intense.

We are happy to say that many of our island cats are now protected from the danger of viruses and we hope to inoculate the rest of their tribe when the weather cools down.

While we were out on the streets and in restaurants and hotels, many people seemed interested in learning about our work here in Amorgos and the island’s residents as well as the tourists who come to this beautiful island have therefore become much more concerned about the health and safety of the island animals.

Dr. Dimitris Vasalakis vaccinates one of the stray cats that Mrs Tasia cares for in Ano Potamos.

Our volunteer in Aegiali, Lily Clevede, Dr. Dimitris Vasalakis, our volunteer from WorkAway, Giorgos Zafiriou and AZI Coordinator Litsa trying to catch the cats in Langada in order to vaccinate them and give them pills against worms.

Dr. Vasalakis examines one of the stray cats that our volunteer, Lily Clevede, takes care of near her home.

Our volunteer in Aegiali, Giorgos Kantarakias, Dr. Dimitris Vasalakis and Lily Clevede with a cat in Tholaria.

Lily with Dr. Vasalakis vaccinating one of the cats of Lakki Hotel.

Lily, with Dr. Vasalakis, vaccinating one of the cats of Nisi Restaurant.

Voula and Voulitsa

Little Voulitsa was living with her mother, Voula, and her three siblings, in an area where there had been serious outbreaks of disease and infection.

Only Voulitsa and her mother were found alive when we reached them and, as you can see in the photographs that we have included below, they were both very close to death. After an intense period of care and treatment in our facility both the mother and daughter have not only survived but have each recovered their health and strength.

Voula has now been released back into her home area after having been spayed but we felt that we could not allow Voulitsa to return with her mother since the area is extremely dangerous for young kittens. Chickens and ducks and cats are all kept together in a small yard by a woman who has consistently refused our help with sterilizations and medications, which means that Voulitsa has remained with us at our center.  

Voulitsa has put on weight and has now become an active and very playful kitten but we must continue treatment in the hope of saving one of her eyes. Soon she will need a foster home while waiting for the family that we hope will come to adopt this small girl and give her a safe and loving home—the miracle that we want for all of these animals who are brought to us in their great need.

Voulitsa on her first day at the Center

Voulitsa and Voula on their first day at the Center

Voulitsa after ten days at our Center

Voulitsa at the Center with her new friend Neron

Voula as she was released.

Angel

Angel was found covered in toxic lime

A few wounds remain

After a month of intense treatment

One early morning in June of this year, a woman who works in a café in the central square of Katapola called our center to tell us that the café cat, who only the night before had been healthy and full of life, was now desperately ill.

Litsa, our coordinator, went to the café at once and saw that the cat was not only covered with a caustic liquid of some kind but that in trying to clean himself he had swallowed much of the toxins and his life was clearly in danger.

At the center we began to clean him and, when the room filled with the smell of lime, we realized that he must have somehow have fallen into a vat of that very corrosive liquid.

We immediately treated him with a course of antibiotics, cortisone, painkillers and creams but he was unable to eat and had developed a high fever. The wounds were severe and we had little hope for his survival but day by day he began to improve and so we gave him the name of Angel.

It took a month of treatment but Angel has now returned to being the handsome boy that he was before the accident. A few of the wounds remain but new hair has begun to grow and his appetite has returned. 

Once Angel’s wounds have healed completely and his fur has grown thick, he will be driven to the central square of Katapola where the sweet lady who has fed him since he was a kitten is waiting for his return.