After publicising the desperate plea put out by Marios yesterday, on behalf of the 63 sweet souls that he looks after, in the “Council Shelter, in Agios Nikolaos, I would like to offer some more insight into the plight of his dogs and the struggle that Marios has had for two years now, since, so generously taking responsibility (voluntarily) of the operation of the shelter and the animals housed there.
As we pointed out yesterday, the battle that goes on every day at the shelter is a personal one for Marios. He told me today that he has solved the problem, temporarily, with the water supply. He found a tank and filled it with water from his home and took it, with help, up to the site. This means that despite being a volunteer, who is personally, not a rich man and who has a family with young children to support, he is paying on his own household water bill, the water for the “Council Shelter”!!!!
He does not speak English, so we will try and help to be a voice for him with the non-Greek people living locally, who want to help him in his work.
At this moment in time he is in need of drugs to vaccinate the dogs and for the overall needs for their health and well being. He suggested that rather than money (which he does not want to handle), people could leave a donation at a chemist, in his name, which he will use to buy whatever the dogs need. He normally cooperates with the chemist opposite the back entrance to the hospital in Agios Nikolaos, run by a lady called Henrietta.
If you do leave an amount at the chemist’s shop, (always saying that it is on behalf of Marios), please then post a comment on his facebook page to let him know and he will go an pick up supplies to that value.
Food is of corse, an ongoing need that he has, and he will always gratefully receive any donation of (preferably dry) food that you can make. Contact us and we will mediate with Marios, for delivery/collection.
In closing I think it is also important to highlight that these dogs do not have a good quality of life in this shelter – despite Marios’ hard work, these animals need more contact with humans, they need proper exercise and if possible and ideally, a new home.
We are responsible for their plight – we the people in this town, let our dogs wander freely and mate with others, because we didn’t neuter them!
We, the people in this town, decided one day, just like that, that we didn’t want or couldn’t care for the dogs that we previously had taken in, without realising the extent of the responsibility.
We just abandoned them somewhere or dumped them over the railings into the shelter, where in some cases they were then torn to bits by the other dogs already there, because they weren’t part of the pack.
We owe it to these animals, to Marios, to ourselves, to help in whatever way we can – the Council doesn’t seem to care so we must!
S.K.