In August, Animal Action Greece worked in collaboration with animal welfare organisation, Artemis, to set up a temporary veterinary clinic in the village of Taxiarchis, Northern Evia, to treat and care for animal fire victims on the island. A large container was donated by the Prefecture of Central Greece to house the clinic, and we provided the necessary equipment and supplies to get the clinic up and running.

Although the clinic was initially set up to treat animals in the immediate aftermath of the wildfires, we were keen to utilise this newly created space to achieve something positive after such a devastating event, helping animals in the area on a more long-term basis.

Through our Sterilisation Programme, we operate a number of long-term projects across the country that aim to strategically reduce the stray population in those areas through sterilisation and population mapping. On Evia, our plan moving forward is to support Artemis in being able to use the newly created Taxiarchis Animal Welfare Clinic as a base for sterilising and vaccinating animals, and as a standby emergency station ready to treat animals in case of another disaster or extreme weather conditions.

We are extremely pleased to have been able to add four mass sterilisation outreach visits to the Taxiarchis Animal Welfare Clinic to our 2022 Sterilisation Programme. Our three experienced veterinary surgeons will work in collaboration with a team of local volunteers to sterilise and vaccinate a target of 400 animals across the year. At the same time, we will begin to map the stray animal population using our bespoke mapping tool, allowing us to better understand the number of animals in the area and the impact of our intervention over time.