Nightmare: ‘Puppies playing in the middle of the road—what’s going to happen to them?’
Mother and five pups struggle to survive / Photo: Glenn Bates
By Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~
“At the garden centre across the road from us one of the dogs has had puppies,” friend Glenn Bates tells me in a message, “and last night at 2:30 a.m. they were playing in the middle of the road. It’s a nightmare, unbelievable. What’s going to happen to these poor pups?”
I have no good answers for him.
Unfortunately this is a common scenario here on the Greek island of Kefalonia and around the world. Mother dogs giving birth at stores, or in alleys, or in ditches, trying to raise their pups in dangerous circumstances, and receiving little or no help.
“I can’t do anything right now,” I reply to Glenn, “I’m overwhelmed with a sprained ankle, and trying to take care of the three foster dogs I already have here, and arranging their futures, and also with the expenses and complicated planning for Viktor and Violetta, another two puppies who came from a similar situation to what you describe. But let me think about this. Where is this garden center? Do you know the owner? Do you have any kind of relationship with him? Do you know if the mother is really his dog or is she a stray? About how old are the pups? How many? Could you take photos of them all and send them to me? Let’s see if maybe we can find them homes and help.”
These babies and their hardworking, beleaguered mother do indeed deserve homes and help.
They also deserve spaying and neutering so as to be free of pregnancy and the difficulties and perpetuated misery that invariably brings.
“After these pups there will be more and more,” Glenn agrees. “I have no doubt about it.”
He spoke with the garden center’s owner about the 100 Dog Neuter Appeal organized by Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs), which aims to provide free, donation-based spay/neutering for pooches just like these, and so many more. Glenn found him to be receptive, and he kindly agreed to work with us at least to have the mother spayed.
But what about the current emergency situation for the little family right now? A mother trying to care for five puppies who wander and play on a very busy road?
Readers, can you help find loving homes for this mother and her puppies? Or make a donation to KATs and/or the other local group ARK (Animal Rescue Kefalonia) to help us spay/neuter as many dogs and cats as possible, so that this grim living nightmare of abandoned, neglected, ill and injured animals can finally, some day, come to an end?
Contact: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris – youradopteddog@yahoo.com – or through Facebook
Please note: Spicy Stories Save Lives is proudly providing part sponsorship for several animals in Kefalonia including Viktor and Violetta and their mom Vaso (if/when we find her).
Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) is currently fostering Viktor and Violetta–not easy because they’re very fearful–and KATs will provide their spay/neuter out of its 100 Dog Neuter Appeal fund. Please give to KATs if you can. Spay/neuter and education are the animals’ best hope for a better future.
To help many more animals like Viktor, Violetta, and Vaso on the Greek island of Kefalonia, please donate to registered charity Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs), via PayPal or bank transfer.
Also please consider Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK), another group on the island that runs a shelter and works miracles with terribly few resources.
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Traumatized puppy Violetta now safe thanks to Greek islanders’ teamwork
Terrified feral puppy, please let me catch and save you
Small but spunky animal rescue group on Greek island launches push to spay/neuter 100 dogs
Questions about animal care? Ask Spicy! Email us at youradopteddogATyahooDOTcom.
Seen our book? Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need, by Shelley Frost and Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, available through Amazon.com.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Her fiction includes 17 novels for Simon and Schuster, E.P. Dutton, Avon, and other major publishers (under the name Kathryn Makris), as well as a teleplay for CBS-TV, and a short story for The Bark magazine. She has written hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for outlets such as National Geographic Traveler, The San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, Animal Issues Reporter.org, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).
