More than 444 pets (dogs and cats) have been transported and registered in the structure of fire-struck animals LATO in Galatsi, while they have been saved from the fire fronts in cooperation with Special Secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals hundreds of productive animals and equids in Attica and Loutraki in collaboration with A Little Shelter and competent municipalities. From the first moment, experts are on the lookout, they receive calls for animal rescues and act immediately to save lives in danger. As she tells APE-MPE, special secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals of the Ministry of the Interior, Marsa Dimopoulou and in these fires, the phenomenon of owners leaving behind their pets inside houses or tied up, putting them in immediate danger, was observed. Of course, as Mrs. Dimopoulou says, there were also some workers who were at work when the fire broke out and immediately called the special Secretariat asking for help. As a result, in some cases, with the written consent of the owners, volunteers broke windows of houses to free animals.

“We have been in the offices of the Special Secretariat for days now coordinating the first part of the project’s operation, that is, collection and rescue. We accept the calls and from there volunteers including rescuers, volunteers who collect difficult cases, dissemination groups, such as Alma Libre, and individual representatives of animal welfare associations who also have vast experience in matters of stray animals send to the points where we accept calls for help to rescue and collect either animals that belong to private individuals or that are strays that are on the streets or even animals of small informal shelters,” Mrs. Dimopoulou tells APE-MBE and adds: “From there the animals are transferred to LATO, where the second part of the operation has been set up in collaboration with Dog’s Voice, they are given first aid voluntarily by the veterinarians of the Vets Volunteer Action, who are there from the first moment helping the volunteers’ work, the animals are all recorded, marked and from there on some are reunited with their owners and some others are transferred to clinics because they need further veterinary care, some others are transferred to foster homes or even adopted to new families”.

As the special Secretariat maintains, the space at LATO in the Municipality of Galatsi is operationally a place suitable for the management of so many hundreds of animals and at the same time it was deemed operationally inappropriate by Dogs’ Voice to transfer such a large volume of animals to another place, something with which the special Secretariat also agreed.

“The volume of animals is very large but it has been very well managed, many volunteers have been found, people who open their homes for hospitality and we are very happy for the response of the people. What we need right now is for the houses to be opened so that at least one animal can be accommodated,” Mrs. Dimopoulou emphasizes.

The heat conditions may make everyone’s work difficult but they do not threaten or have never threatened the health of the animals, according to the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals which explains that when the animals face health problems they are taken to clinics and veterinary clinics or otherwise remain in crates with cooling mats, basins of cool water, shade, 24-hour veterinary supervision by the Voluntary Action of Veterinarians of Greece – EDKE and hundreds volunteers.

“In general most are fine, in the sense that they didn’t have serious burns. There were animals that needed veterinary care or surgeries but they were dealing with pre-existing issues unrelated to the fires. The productive animals and equines are transferred to the Little Shelter in collaboration with Katrina Tsantali in the private shelter she has there and she helps us with companion animals and lambs, goats, sheep and equines, donkeys, etc. From the point of view of fires, it is good, but there are other issues and other procedures are followed. In other words, we found equines in Megara, not in good condition, in a private area next to the fires, which animals were ordered by the public prosecutor to be confiscated and to initiate the procedure for the vehicle for the owner because one of them was skeletonized, a donkey we found that has several health problems is also in a state of pregnancy, but its problems are not related to the fires. We don’t have animals with serious burns”, Mrs. Dimopoulou concludes.

It is reminded that anyone who finds a trapped animal in danger that it is impossible for him to rescue himself or who needs trucks or an ambulance to rescue a large number of animals, should immediately call the official telephone numbers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs 2131364020 or 2131364933 or 2131364935 or 2131364036. The rescue operation is carried out in cooperation with Civil Protection, the Greek Police, the Fire Department, some municipalities of Attica, rescue and rescue groups, dog trainers and experienced members of animal welfare organizations.

In any case, the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals of the Ministry of the Interior appeals to all citizens not to abandon their animals, not to leave them helpless, tied and trapped, while it is in constant communication with the municipalities of the country affected by the fire.