Aris

Aris was found barely conscious on Friday, October 14th and, with only a few hours of life remaining, he was brought to our center where we began intensive treatment. After three days of water and nourishment and medication this kitten regained strength and he now stands on his own small feet, begins to eat by himself and asks for our caresses. Aris has a sweet nature and we hope this tiny one will find a kind and loving family to care for him. 

 

Photo 1: He was found almost unconscious and unable to stand.

Photo 2: He was transferred immediately to our Center .

Photo 3: Three days later, he is able to stand in his own.

Photo 4: He asks for attention and caresses.

Silvana

Do you remember Silvana the paralyzed kitten? Well, we are happy to say that this young kitten is no longer paralyzed.

Silvana arrived in our Center on August 21, 2016. She was unable to stand but after a series of x-rays and an examination and procedure by our veterinarian, within a week she was able to stand and after a month she was able not only to walk but to run and play.

Naglaa Saurer, from Switzerland, met Silvana in our Center and fell in love with her. After a few days of travel from Amorgos to Switzerland, Silvana now has a home and a new playmate, Violeta, a kitten close to her own age. Violeta is slowly learning to accept Silvana, and their mother wrote to us that Silvana is adapting quickly to her new home and her Swiss citizenship.

Here is a short video of Silvana as she arrived in our Center.

And another video of Silvana after two weeks in our Center.

 

Here is Silvana on her first day in Switzerland.

Photo 1: When Silvana came in our Center.

Photo 2: In our Center one month later.

Photo 3: Ready for the trip to her new home.

Photo 4 and 5: At her new home in Swiss.

Plume

PLUME

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 crises 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. His own mother died suddenly and his owner was unable to keep him. Plume was left alone and we, at the center, agreed to take care of him. But the peaceful and quite life that Plume had known did not prepare him for a center filled with so many of the cats that are in our care.

Plume decided that he was happier spending more time outside in the neighborhood but soon he developed an infection. Our veterinarian treated him for respiratory disease and gave him antibiotics but when nothing seemed to help so 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 Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), 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 Villa Vagebond, http://villa.vagebond.com/, their section for cats suffering 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.

There, he received intensive care for the chronic problem he had, creating fluid accumulation in his face. After months of treatment a miracle happened and it simply disappeared!

In the meantime Nathalie felt in love with our special guy and she decided to adopt him. So Plume is now a permanent resident of Villa Vagebond in Belgium, where he lives in peace and comfort and is very happy.

plume-collage.jpg

Little Artemis

Little Artemis is only three weeks old but she is a fierce warrior. After being left alone for six days in a rusty barrel, exposed to the heat of the day and the cold of the night, when I found her, I felt that she was alive by some great and mysterious miracle. I took Artemis back to our center and gave her an antibiotic serum, cleaned her eyes and nose and placed her on a heating pad, feeding her with a syringe drop by drop, every hour, until, through her great will to live, she opened her eyes and began to suck milk from the baby bottle with gusto, purring and pawing the arms of those who held her. Little Artemis is blessed with strength and we believe that she will live a long and happy life with whoever will come to share their own life with her.

Valeria

Microchip#: 941000016719390
 
Valeria came to the Center on September 29, 2015, when she was 3 months old, nothing more than skin and bones and with bad case of diarrhea. She arrived at our shelter with her brother but sadly, her brother was in a much worse condition, and he died the next day.

Valeria comes from a field in Katapola where she lived with a small colony of cats.
 
Valeria is now almost 11 months old, spayed, fully vaccinated and ready to find her own warm house. She is very easy-going cat, calm and relaxed. We are sure that she will be the perfect feline company for someone.

Posted 6/29/16

Nano

One day in September, 2015, Litsa, AZI's coordinator in Amorgos, heard a kitten crying while walking her dog. But because the kitten was located inside a private garden, she left it alone. However, when she returned the next day, the kitten was still crying, so she found the owner of the property and received permission to search the area. 

Nano was found under a plant crying nonstop, with no mother around. She appeared to be only a couple weeks old. Litsa rescued her and brought her to AZI's center, where little Nano received care and nourishment. She was bottle fed at first and eventually learned to eat by herself. 
 
Some months later, in December 2015, Nano found her own home in Athens. A few days before Christmas, little Nano traveled to Athens where she met her new family. The family has three daughters who fell in love with Nano, who became the first cat in their family. Nano is loved by every member of the family, and we often receive happy updates and photos with her achievements.

Luna

Luna is a mixed beagle and hound who was found in Chora in August of 2014. 

Luna had been left tied in the sun without water or food by a young girl who did not understand the responsibilities of caring for a puppy.  She was malnourished and frightened and she cried through the night until we rescued her and took her to our Center. 

Luna stayed in our Center for only a few months because she was lucky enough to be very quickly adopted. In October of 2014 she traveled from Amorgos to the airport in Athens and then on to Holland. When she arrived at the airport she was curious and went immediately to her new family but it had been a very long journey and she was tired and slept on that last leg of the journey to her new home.

Luna is adored by her family and she is enjoying the green grass, the cows, rides in the car and long naps on her new blanket. She loves to play and run and, even though she is sometimes shy, the cats and the children love her. We are so very happy for Luna and we wish her the best in her new long life.

In November of 2014 we had this update from her family—“Everything is going very well. At this moment Luna is having her “chill time with a bone” while I am in my room. She is getting used to all the new things in her life and we can see that she is a very happy young pup. At times she is still a bit nervous but when she sees that we are relaxed and there for her she relaxes as well. Luna learns quickly and she is still growing. We all love her very much and we can no long imagine life without Luna.”

These photographs show how much Luna has blossomed in the heart of her new family. We are so grateful that she has found a loving home.

Angeliki

Get to know Angeliki

 

Number of microchip:  941000016719370

Angeliki came to the Center on May 2015. She is named after the girl from Tholaria who brought her to us. Tholaria is a bad spot for stray cats: we have not yet fully eradicated the local habit of using poison to get rid of them. The issue with Angeliki was, however, different: she had been attacked by a dog and one of her hind paws was seriously damaged. To move about she would drag it and bring more pain on herself. Our attempts to make her walk with a splint were a failure. The wound would not heal and it became necessary to amputate. We now need a compassionate animal lover who has access to a garden, Angeliki, who is fond of other cats and is only a little cautious around dogs (understandably so!) likes to spend some time oudoors. At home she is so quiet that you would hardly know she is there. She does not beg for affection, but on occasion she is very determinate in claiming her portion of caresses.

 

Klio + Minoas + Thalia

Get to know Klio, Minoas & Thalia

Numbers of microchip:

Klio (the black and white - photos 1 and 4): 941000016719393
Minoas (the red with a little bit white - photos 2 and 5): 941000016719391
Thalia (the red - photos 3 and 6): 941000016719392

Our babies Minoas, Klio and Thalia arrived at the Center from the area of Aegiali on April 24 when they were about 2 weeks old. 

Lampros from Aegiali knew their mother and used to feed her but when he didn't see her for two days and heard her babies cry non stop he realized that something wrong happened to her. As he didn't know how to take care such small kittens he called on us. The rescue mission began promptly for we knew that the kittens had been without any food for at least two days. In 45 minutes of the call the babies where sleeping in a warm bed with their tummies full of milk. 

The kittens  have grown a lot  since that day. They are now 2 months old and ready for adoption. They are 3 fat small balls with incredible energy for play and a voracious appetite. 

Akira

Update: Akira has been adopted!

Akira, the remaining dog of a litter of puppies that we rescued since Sept 2015, has been adopted by a family in the Netherlands. We could not be more thrilled for her. Her new best friend is another former stray dog from Athens called Andras.

Here is what Akira's new mum wrote to us: 

Andras (our other male dog) and Akira are good friends!!! They play together a lot and even lie on the sofa together, against each other. Except when Robin (my son) is home. Then Akira INSISTS on lying with him. Akira is a very easygoing dog, doesn't bark when she is alone, and doesn't destroy things. Well....she started to eat the carpet twice, but a firm NO was enough. 

 She pulls a lot though when walking on the leash. We went to an enclosed piece of land where she could be free and then it was obvious why she pulls so much on the leash: ENERGY... running up and down like crazy. So this has become our daily walk: one hour to the terrain, one hour there and one hour back home. Now the dogs are content and good for the whole day. 

Akira, have a wonderful life with your new family!

_______

Number of microchip: 941000016719319
 
Akira is a mixed breed female Belgian Shepherd Groenendael (her mother was a purebred Belgian Shepherd Groenendael, and her father was a mixed breed Greek Shepherd mixed breed). She weighs 22 kg, is 10 month old, not spayed yet, fully vaccinated. Just like that of the the rest of the family, her tail is short. 

Akira is Arangon’s sister.  When he was about two months he was abandoned with her 2 sisters and 2 brothers. We tracked down the man responsible for this who, apologized, accepted to sterilize his female dog (the mother) and to cover all expenses for the puppies until all of them are adopted. 

Akira wants to be close to people and she listens quite attentively when you call her. She is a happy and quiet puppy: she remains quite nonplussed when driven around in a car. Right now she rooms with her brother Arangon, as all the other puppies have been adopted. Unfortunately, due to a lack of foster homes for dogs in Amorgos, the space they have at their disposal is very small and our assistant can only spend with them half hour a day. 

She gets along very well with other dogs, male or female, small or big, children and even cats, but best of all she loves humans and will make a great companion.

Fido

Get to know Fido

Number of microchip: 941000016719394.

Fido is a mixed breed male Collie. He weighs 30 kg, is 2 years old, neutered, and fully vaccinated. His blood tests turned out negative for Leishmania and Erlicheia.

Fido initially was supposed to be a shepherd dog but it just so happens that he is afraid goats!! His shepherd owner was given to our organization. Before then he lived in the mountains, tied up most of the time, with very little to eat.  Despite this awful start in life, Fido is a very happy and active dog who acts like a puppy.

Fido has been with us less than a month and we have worked to familiarize him with his new environment, both physical and social. Sometime he is afraid of things he does not know and his general reaction is to sit down. He did so every time a car (which he had never seen) went by. He adores water so much, so we occasionally bring him to the sea. Fido is a smart, easy to handle dog, and he loves everybody and he is easily trained.

Just like Arangon and Akira he lives in a small enclosure. He badly needs a loving home, even one not so close to the ocean. Please contact us if you are interested in adopting him. We're sure you won't regret it.

Arangon

GET TO KNOW Arangon

 

Number of microchip: 941000016719318

Arangon is a mixed breed male Belgian Shepherd Groenendael  (his mother was a purebred belgian shepherd Groenendael and his father a mixed breed Greek shepherd). He is 10 months old, neutered, fully vaccinated and weighs 30 kg. His tail, just like that of his father, is short. When he was about two months he was abandoned with his 3 sisters and 1 brother. We tracked down the man responsible for this who, apologized, accepted to sterilize his female dog (the mother) and to cover all expenses for the puppies until all of them are adopted. 

Arangon is a happy, active puppy, easy to handle:  he responds quickly to what is being asked of him and shows great affection for humans. Right now he rooms with his sister Akira, as all the others puppies have been adopted. Unfortunately, due to a lack of foster homes for dogs in Amorgos, the space they have at their disposal is very small and our assistant can only spend with them half hour a day. 

He gets along very well with other dogs, male or female, small or big, children and even cats. 

Litsa (Louiza)

Happy news! Another cat of the three brought to Chicago by PAWS Chicago volunteers in March 2016 has found a new home.

Originally named Louiza, now called Litsa, she is about a year and a half, and is a special needs cat. She is totally blind, caused by severe infections in both eyes contracted when she was just a kitten. Her chances of finding a good home in Greece were slim to none, so the wonderful volunteers from PAWS Chicago took her to the US and after a few months in a foster home, she was adopted. We're so happy for her!

Girogos

Donald, now Giorgos, was one of the first kittens that came to the Center when it opened in September 2012. He was found with his sister Daisy in the middle of a central road in Katapola when they were 2 months old. Tourists were trying to protect them from the cars. After receiving a call, I picked them up and since then they have been living at our Center. Later Giorgos was transferred to our shelter in Chora, but after breaking his leg in an accident he returned to the Center to recover. 

Giorgos is now one of the luckiest cats because the team from PAWS Chicago took him to Chicago to find a good home for him there. And guess what, a home was found right away and Giorgos now has his own family. What a wonderful ending for a sweet, deserving cat.

Charley

Koutcho is now called Charley. He is living the good life with a young couple who adopted him after he arrived in Holland in Dec 2009. They could see beyond his lame front leg and saw the goodness inside. Charley now gets to go traveling all over Holland, when he accompanies his new owner on his business trips. He also loves going out for bike rides in his special bike-cart with his new family. At home he feels safe and loved and has become friends with two fellow cats. A happy ending for a deserving dog!

2015.december.jpg

Mickay

Name: Mickay
Color: Black & White
Breed: Mix
Gender: Male
Age: About 6 years


Mickay’s Story

We believe that Mickay was born in January of 2010. 

After being abandoned by a hunter who had no further use for him,  Mickay was taken in by two young teenage boys who kept him on a short chain behind a shed where sheep and pigs were housed. When he was discovered by our volunteers Lamia and Eleftheria, Mickay was in a grave state of malnutrition. Lamia and Eleftheria began to feed and to walk him and they eventually persuaded the boys to release him into the care of the local animal welfare society.

Sweet Mickay came to us at AZI a few months later and he stayed with us for five years but he has now found his forever home. His new family lives in Italy but they also have a home on Amorgos and when they met Mickay, and learned of his story, they wanted to offer him a new life.

In March he traveled with Lamia Enan from Amorgos to Italy where he now lives in a huge garden in the Villa Lagarina along with five other active and happy dogs.

Mickay, the loving dog who had a most difficult start in life, has finally found the safe and precious well-cared-for life that he so deserves.

Mikay Before

Mikay Before

Negra

Name: Negra
Color: White
Breed: Labrador Mix
Gender: Female
Age: About 2 years

Her name is Negra, the Greek for “black woman,” which only serves to emphasize the humor and good nature of this mixed white Labrador.

Negra came into our care in September of 2014 and we believe that she must now be about two and a half years old.

Negra was abandoned in Aegiali when she was only a puppy and our volunteers were concerned about not only her care and feeding but also about the danger of the roads. The owner of one of the restaurants in Langada agreed to take her and feed her but he could not make a true home for this lost puppy. Now and then the assistants in his restaurant would take Negra home for a short stay and the animal lovers of the area would pet her but there were many problems. Negra tended to roam the streets of Langada and Ormos and there was the ever present danger of being killed by either car or poison since other restaurants in the area found her to be a nuisance and complained. At last our volunteers decided to bring her to us in the hopes of finding a lasting home for this sweet neglected dog.

And that is the miracle that happened. A family in Holland took Negra to live with them along with their five year old boy and their two small dogs. Everyone is flourishing, Negra has been enrolled in basic training courses and the family is in love with our dear Negra.

Atlas & Anta

Dec 2013 Update:

We are happy to report that Anta has been adopted through one of the vets with we work with on the island. Atlas is still with his mother and enjoying life in the country, and is growing up big and strong. Atlas is still available for adoption, but would require training—he does not know how to walk on a leash, he is afraid around people.

Atlas and Anta are 3-month old puppies who we think is going to be medium to large dogs. They were living with their mother in Lefkes but the dogs’ owner is not able to take care of them. (The mother is not up for adoption.) Sweet Atlas and Anta are in need of a loving home and soon–won’t you consider adopting one of them?