theinsideandout.com

24 June 2009

Went to Zakynthos to investigate the possibility of a sea turtle conservation trip for 2010.  Parts of the island are heavily touristed, as with all of the Greek islands, but there are parts that are less so.  One of these areas is Gerakes, a seaside village which is home to one of the most important nesting areas for the Mediterranean Loggerhead Sea Turtle.

I spent a couple of days meeting with the local organization that is at the forefront of the conservation movement for these sea turtles and drafted a plan for an exciting Humanitourism™ Adventure to help in the conservation effort and also experience the best of what the island has to offer.

The beaches on Zakynthos are crucial for the continued reproduction of the Mediterranean Loggerheads.  Unfortunately, these beaches have been heavily impacted by tourist and the tourism industry, resulting in the Mediterranean Loggerhead entering the list of endangered species.  Just the presence of human interference on these beaches is enough to create distress for these turtles and these beaches are heavily developed and highly trafficked by people.

The lights of the developed areas, the noise and, of course, the trash, have taken a heavy toll on sea turtle reproduction.  Development on these beaches went unchecked for many years, and even though laws have been passed and fines levied, the developers and merchants have not cooperated.  Several of the hotels and developments were determined to have encroached protected beach area and were slated for demolition, but due to rampant corruption, they have remained in place.

Our work will involve helping to build a rescue center on the island, provide education on conservation of the sea turtles and do a beach cleanup to restore one of the beaches for nesting.  We will also explore the island and surrounding areas, climbing Mt. Skopos, sea kayaking along the coast and actively participating in a sailing adventure around the Ionian Sea.

19 June 2009

In Konitsa, a small pack of strays greets us at our guest house.  A couple of them are Greek hunting dogs, probably abandoned.  One of those is a sweet, gentle female who was so emaciated, it just broke our hearts.  She hung around and we went off to dinner determined to at least give her a good meal while we were there.

We returned with our “doggie bag” and fed her.  A couple of us had already gotten attached to her, because she had such a sweet disposition and eyes that could just melt you.  We decided to mount a rescue and bring her back to Ioannina where she could be spayed and fostered to possibly be rehomed abroad.  There would not be much call for her In Greece, very few dogs are adopted within Greece.

I snuck her into my room and she stayed with me that night.  She ended up sleeping on the bed with me and being a complete angel.  She of course had tons of fleas and some ticks, but I wasn’t much concerned.  She was just too sweet to deny.

In the morning we scrambled with logistics, since we were headed of for a day of rafting.   Our driver agreed to let her take us in the van with us, and we would take her back to Ioannina where she could be tested for leishmaniasis and spayed.  She was beginning her cycle of heat, so she would need to be sterilized before putting her with any other dogs.

We were lucky enough to find a vet who would be willing to do it that day, pending the outcome of the leishmaniasis test.  If she tested positive, we would probably have to euthanize her because she would not be able to be rehomed.  With high hopes, and a plan for a rescue, we loaded her into the van. She laid with her head on my lap nearly the entire way, sweetly looking up at me periodically.

After an hour or so ride, we got her to the vet and crossed our fingers while they tested her.  The results are obtainable in about 10 minutes, so we nervously waited.    The vet returned with crushing news – she was positive.

We steeled ourselves for what we needed to do.  We were sparing “Lucy,” as we named her, from the horror of a terrible prolonged and painful death in the streets from the disease.  She would also be in full heat soon and unable to defend herself against all of the male street dogs.  She probably would barely be able to support a littler of puppies and could likely leave them motherless before they were weaned.

We sent Lucy off surrounded by love and people around her who cared.  This was something she hadn’t had for all of the rest of her life.

18 June 2009

We’re  off to explore some other villages outside of Ioannina where we will be able to absorb even more of the culture off the beaten path.   The dogs of Ioannina are mostly healthy and fed, thanks to Mary, Despoina and the other locals who dedicate themselves to the dogs’ well being.  They work hard to feed, sterilize and provide veterinary care for the stray population here, which is why it is so heartbreaking when poisonings occur.

One local dog has defied the odds and managed to not only survive but thrive in Ioannina.  “Kukla,” which means cutie or doll, has been on the streets for almost 10 years and is a robust girl.  She freely roams the streets, and although people seem to feed her and don’t mind her presence, I am looked at strangely when I stop and pet her and give her affection.  Many Greeks believe that dogs are dirty and carry diseases, so they refuse to touch them and pass this mentality on to their children.

Dogs that have guardians here may sometimes be kept for utility but never touched their entire lives.  So many of the stray dogs are abandoned dogs that once had homes.  Others have suffered terrible cruelty and mistreatment.  Many of them long for affection but are too scared to come near because of terrible experiences they have had with humans.  It is heartbreaking to see the longing in their eyes and yet their fear of coming near.

Others have obviously lived with people in closer proximity, but they’ve either outgrown their puppyhood, are not fulfilling their utility (in the case of hunting dogs), or simply became too much of a bother.

In the outlying villages, there are all types of dogs.  We start a day of trekking, from Monodhendri through the Vikos Gorge to Papingo.  In the village of Papingo, there are many cats and a few dogs, as I also remembered from last year.  This is a village that is more of a tourist destination for Greeks as well as Europeans.  Being such. there is not as much of a stray population and those that are here often get fed by the tourists from other countries.  We had one stray dog that went running with one of us one morning and then joined us for breakfast where we were staying.

In Konitsa, however, there are small packs of dogs that are likely abandoned pets or hunting dogs that have been dumped off in the mountains and have wandered into the village looking for food.  At night, you can hear the barking of the packs in the distance.  Sadly, it is easy to see how this is viewed as problem.  What is unfortunate is the means that is sometimes used to solve the problem, poison.  These are prime reasons why our work distributing educational materials on sterilization, poisoning and abandonment is so important.

16 June 2009

After building and placing the feeding stations, we embarked on our educational campaign, distributing educational materials and organizing a silent demonstration in the town center of Ioannina.  Mary has been an amazing part of all of the coordination and effort.  She also has tremendous insight into both the local situation as well as animal welfare around Greece in general.

We’re working side by side with the locals, distributing leaflets on sterilization, which is virtually non-existent here, abandonment, which is commonplace, and poisoning, also a common practice for controlling the stray population, as well as a fact sheet on the benefits of living with pets.

We’ve been out on the streets handing out leaflets and talking to the locals.  Some of the people who live here speak some English, especially the young people, and we have our Greek counterparts to help translate when they don’t.  Despoina is one of the locals that has joined us.  She is a passionate proponent of the dogs and works tirelessly to help them.  Her enthusiasm is infectious as we watch her chase down people who have tossed the leaflets carelessly away or have made disparaging comments.

We’ve had some great encounters and some engaging conversations.  We’ve even had some of the locals ask us to arrange for sterilization of their dogs after talking to us and reading the materials, and we’ve sparked a curiosity and interest from others about animal welfare in general.

The silent vigil is a collaborative effort.  The local animal welfare community has banded together with our group to recruit participants to stand in unity with us.  We’ve spent a couple of days making banners and signs.   We are feeling a great sense of hope and pride.  There has been a surprising receptiveness here.

The demonstration has attracted a large crowd, and Kostas, one of the local activists, has told us this is the largest assembly for animal welfare ever in the history of Ioannina.  We even have coverage from two television stations and the local newspaper.  The vigil is a resounding success.

15 June 2009

We are visiting the local university to distribute educational materials and invitations to the silent demonstration.  This is a good target population for us because they are young and educated and more open to changing perceptions about animal welfare.

It is a strange environment here.  There are larger packs of dogs which the locals feed.  Many of these dogs will bark and chase cars leaving the parking lot, so it is easy to see why the university might perceive them as a problem. Because it is the nature of some dog breeds to chase cars, this is a difficult problem to solve.  We’ve brainstormed on some possible solutions but haven’t come up with anything that is truly practical.

The students don’t seem to mind them, but since the university finds them to be a problem, they systematically poison them to eliminate the population.  Part of our mission is to educate about the cruelty of poisoning and another part is to empower these young people to stand up against cruelty and act amongst their own people to make change.

This is an important aspect of what we are doing.  The problem will never be solved by outsiders.  There are many groups of both Greeks and non-Greeks outside of the country that approach the problem from many angles.  But in the end, it is my belief that it can only be solved by changing the minds and behaviors of Greeks within their own country.

14 June 2009

We arrived our first day and visited one of the shelters in Athens, the KAZ shelter.  KAZ is the Katafigio Adespoto Zoa, shelter for stray animals.   They are an amazing facility, and a rarity in Greece.  There are very few shelters, and many provide worse conditions than life on the streets.  There is no money to support the building and operation of shelters, so they are virtually non-existent.

KAZ was originally designed as a transition facility, a temporary stop to treat sick and injured animals.  They have a small surgical facility, recovery area and kennels.  They have been forced to expand their kennels to try to accommodate dogs that have been abandoned or dropped off at the shelter in the middle of the night.  Sometimes entire litters of puppies are left outside the shelter.  This additional burden has made it even more difficult for them to continue to operate with the limited funding they have (none of which is from the Greek government).

We brought over a bunch of veterinary supplies that we collected from the states to donate to KAZ. The folks were thrilled to receive the supplies, which included medications, syringes, needles, surgical supplies and other medical items.

The next day, we headed up to Ioannina for the rest of our animal welfare work.  We also brought some veterinary supplies for the local animal welfare folks here.  We are building feeding stations that they will use for their feeding rounds that they make to help feed the local stray population there.  We originally planned to build one each for two locations where they feed, but our group was so ambitious, we built another two!

I’ve decided to add a blog to the website to help with project updates, news and other information related to our trips, our projects and our Humanitourism™ partners. I’ll also post other relevant information on Humanitourism,™ voluntourism, responsible travel and other related concerns.