In the second half of January, AAG participated in Phase II of the Refugee Camps Programme. A project that brings together vets, vet assistants, trappers, volunteers, organisations, and Ministries, all dedicated to making the lives of stray animals better.
It is a large-scale project involving individuals from six different countries, who utilize their knowledge and expertise in various fields, with the primary goal of assisting the stray animals that reside in the Greek Refugee Camps.
Animal Action Greece contributes to this project both before each phase and during clinics. The first part consists of helping with organising each phase of the project, by using the knowledge it has amassed through decades of organising and executing mass sterilisation programmes all over Greece. The second part consists of being on-site during the clinics, making sure that all requirements of the Greek animal welfare law are met, liaising with the local authorities and volunteers when needed.
Animal Action Greece is proud to be a part of such a project, for many reasons. It is the first one of its kind to be organised and executed in Europe. It encompasses all the values on which our organisation’s strategy is based, that is, creating healthy and thriving communities for Greece’s cats and dogs through sustained sterilisation, vaccination, and microchipping, as well as empowering, educating and engaging the local communities on how to treat and care for the animals they live with, thus ensuring a better living environment for all. And it is also evidence of how a group of 30+ people from different countries, with different mentalities and backgrounds, can work together in harmony and achieve amazing results when they have a common goal.
In the Refugee Camps Programme, the common goal was to help all the animals residing in the camps visited by the team, and this resulted in more than 600 stray cats and dogs getting sterilised, vaccinated, microchipped, and cared for during Phases I & II.
A big thank you to Greater Good Charities for providing the vets, vet assistants, trappers and covering the costs for the whole team, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum for organising the project and securing its smooth operation, the Ministry of the Interior for helping with the local authorities and, last but not least, the Greek trappers and volunteers whose help is always invaluable!
Phase III loading!!!