November Report

[Symi Animal Welfare]

Over the last few days, we have seen a sudden change in the weather here on Symi - there have been several days of heavy rainfall and a noticeable drop in temperatures. The Greek visitors for the recent Panormitis festival have gone, leaving an extremely damp island feeling very quiet indeed. The few remaining restaurants, bars and businesses, still open after the end of October departures, have now ceased trading for the winter too , leaving a reasonable selection which stay open all year round.

Of course, the rubbish bins aren't so full at the end of the summer, in fact, in the autumn when people clean their houses in preparation for the winter months, there is more evidence of old TVs, burned-out BBQs and broken plastic chairs than food scraps! Which of course, isn't good news for the street cat population, many of whom have relocated to the nearest skip after the summer resident who has been feeding them has packed up the house and gone away for the winter. Without a vet visit for 12 months, there are so many kittens in all areas. Fortunately, most of them have been born to healthy mothers, so they seem fairly fit and strong, we hope strong enough to survive the winter months.

Foodstuffs for the feeding programme were ordered a while ago, but most has not yet arrived - due to the minimal ferry service and recent bad weather. One supermarket delivered a batch earlier today so I am assuming that the other shopkeepers will follow soon and it can be distributed to our volunteers (covering 19 feeding stations again this time!)

456 cans of food + 114 kilos pasta + 380 kilos of biscuits should keep our street cats happy, certainly for a good while! This food is all paid for from generous donations throughout the summer months, 2 supermarkets have also contributed towards the feeding programme.

Thank you all so very much.

The few lucky kittens who have been rescued continue to grow - Stevie, Chloe and Jack at the Sunrise, Django at our house, at least 4 up at the farm, 15 bundles of joy in Pedi......the list is endless.

One of our supporters recently found, in the harbour, a cat with a smashed paw, it really was in bad way. She offered to take it over to one of the Rhodes' vets and thankfully, the foot was saved. The young cat will remain with a family here on Symi, who will care for him permanently.

Two dogs are no longer living on the streets, both have been given a home, one up in the mountains, the second not so far away.

We hope that soon there'll be news about a Symi Animal Welfare website, but for the moment, all I can say is 'work in progress!


Thank you once again,

Melanie