Storm, former ‘ghost’ dog, will soon be on her way home, thanks to an international team’s hard work / Photo: Ghosts Dogs of Aspropyrgos

by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~

The odds are stacked high and hard against homeless animals and those who try to help them. Chronic shortages of money and time allow us to save only a few of the countless millions who need our assistance around the world. When we do manage to pull off successful rescues, it’s time to celebrate and crow a little.

Very soon, three dogs whose lives once counted for nothing will enjoy lives that mean everything to their loving new families. Their salvation comes only because of the hard work and dedication of an international team who refuse to stand by while animals suffer.

Heroic rescue group

Volunteers for the group Ghost Dogs of Aspropyrgos in Greece spend dozens of hours per month and small fortunes of their own money in an industrial town outside of Athens called Aspropygos, or “White Tower.” They witness misery that is the stuff of nightmares.

Hundreds of dogs abandoned there suffer from starvation, thirst, severe illnesses, poisoning, and exposure to all extremes of weather. Some get fatally stuck in old, uncovered pits of toxic tar and chemicals.

The Aspropyrgos rescue group provides veterinary care and spay/neuter for as many of these forgotten “ghost” animals as possible. And sometimes, for a lucky few, they are able to find homes.

Storm, Evalina, and Tiki Tiki’s upcoming flight sponsored by RescueDiva.com

Storm and Evalina are two of the lucky ones. They were rescued and taken in by the Ghosts group.  Then, enter Linda van der Riet in Athens. She’s another heroic volunteer who devotes much of her life to rescue and fostering.

Linda took care of Storm for nearly a year. During that time her friend and fellow rescuer Deborah Campbell visited from England and fell in love with a certain blue-eyed young lady.

This week Storm and Evalina will fly from Greece to the Netherlands escorted by Niz Khan, another dedicated rescuer from England. Meanwhile Deborah has traveled to Amsterdam to meet her new fur baby Storm at the airport and take her home. Evalina will be fostered in the Netherlands until her forever family comes along.

A third dog, Tiki Tiki, will join Storm and Evalina on the same flight from Athens to Amsterdam. Tiki Tiki, who was rescued and fostered in northern Greece by Popi Myroti, also will be fostered by another volunteer in England until she finds her own forever family.

Rescue Diva is delighted to donate Niz’s airfare for that home-bound flight, as well as the airline fees for the three canine travelers.

Thanks to RescueDiva.com’s supporters  🙂

The odds will remain stacked against animals and those who care about them. But sometimes, when enough of us care enough, and work together well enough—nurturing and caring for our fellow rescuers as much as we do for the animals—we beat the odds.

This is one of those times.

Thanks to all of you who follow and support Rescue Diva for your help in making possible the upcoming “freedom flight” of Storm, Evalina, and Tiki Tiki.

Donate to The Ghost Dogs of Aspropyrgos and Linda van der Riet so that they may continue doing their fine work.

Enjoy an album of “before and after” photos of many more Aspropyrgos success stories.

Read all about the group’s demanding work.

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Rescue Diva proudly sponsors needy animals in the U.S. and around the world.

For example we help Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) provide free spay/neuter for hundreds of animals per year, which is one of the best ways to prevent the abandonment and misery of puppies like Noah and Kyla.

We also do in-the-trenches rescues of angels like Robin, Chance, and Tiger, with help from San Diego Animal Support Foundation, and of Marisol and Lisa, with help from Last Chance at Life.

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.com, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).

Together with coauthor Shelley Frost, Katerina wrote a step-by-step guide for hands-on, in-the-trenches dog rescue, Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need (The Lyons Press).