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July 2010 - Music on a Summer Night

The Ark's Summer Party will be held on Monday 12 July at 7.30 pm at the villa next to Corfu Holiday Palace in Kanoni. (Follow the road round to the riding sSchool entrance.) The entrance fee of 15 euros includes a free bar and buffet. "Music to relax" will be followed by "Music to dance to" and there will also be a raffle for a 32" Samsung TV. "A fabulous evening in a glorious garden ..... so enjoyable" was just one of the many comments following last year's event. Don't miss it!

April 2010 - Sun, sea and strays

This article by Louisa van Vuurde first appeared in The Corfiot magazine.

The tourist season has just begun, and we hope many visitors will come to our beautiful island and have a wonderful time. During the summer season, a large number of tourists contact our small animal welfare charity, the Ark, concerned about animal care, or perhaps lack of it. Most come from countries where animal welfare is on a different level from in the Mediterranean. They phone or email us about dogs on short ropes, often with hardly any food or (dirty) water, pups or kittens found near or in rubbish bins, abandoned dogs or cats sometimes in bad condition, injured or poisoned animals. A lot of tourists spend time during their holidays helping these animals; giving them food, taking a injured dog to a vet, offering them a bit of love. But when the season ends...?

In the winter that's just gone we had a never-ending queue of animals needing care - unwanted, injured, poisoned, just name it - and a never-ending offer of unwanted puppies. Although we promote sterilization and even have a support programme, dog owners often refuse it as being unnatural. But is it natural to dump the pups on the roadside, or put them in a plastic bag into the wheelie bin? Often our summer visitors offer to adopt an unwanted dog or cat, but we always advise them to think twice: a dog or cat is for life, and that could be 15 years or more; and during that whole period the owner must have the time, space and money to really take care of the new family member. If adoption is well thought through, the Ark can assist with the necessary procedures. If you are traveling back to Holland or Germany you also can help us. Please contact us by email or phone (0030) 6979 798202.

More and more frequently we are managing to find caring Corfiot families to adopt a dog or cat, but they are not enough by far for all the needy animals. We are therefore very happy to have the support of StichtingAAI in Holland, who help us to find 'golden baskets' with Dutch families. It is very moving to see that animals with handicaps are also being given a chance of a better life. One example from last year was Argi, a dog with complicated broken leg(s), who found in Michiel a caring owner. In May, Argi will come back to Corfu for a three-week holiday. Another was Misty, a big pup with deformed front legs. She had to endure several operations, with a long recovery time; but now she's got two straight front legs, and is allowed to run. And then there was the puppy Popi, hit by a car in Gouvia with the result that he had to have a risky elbow operation in Holland. Meanwhile he tested positive for leishmaniosis, but despite his problems a young family with a little boy of two fell in love with the pup, and Popi - now called Ari - has joined them. These are just some examples of dogs with a handicap who find loving homes, but of course most of our animals are healthy - and all of them have a lovely sunny (Corfu) nature.

The happy new owners are now promoting the 'Corfu breed' amongst their friends, and telling them that the fashion for buying a pedigree dog (often from countries like Hungary and Bulgaria) is 'such a pity'. The 'survival of the fittest' process means that mixed-blood dogs are usually healthier and cleverer than pedigrees. One local couple who have adopted a dog from us is Eleni and her husband, the proud owners of a small two-to-three year-old old brown dog named Venza. She and her two sisters were not wanted any longer. One, Venzi, is now in Holland, and we have nice photos of her in her new surroundings. The other, Venzou, is living in Petriti in the south of Corfu, as reported in the March edition of The Corfiot. Eleni takes Venza for long walks, and you might see her in and around Garitsa. She's is a sweet example of the 'Corfu breed', as nice as our Corfu tomatoes, olives, sun and sea.

Finally we repeat a request aimed at people living on Corfu: We urgently need temporary foster homes for dogs waiting to be adopted, so that a puppy, or an injured or unwanted dog, can receive some tender loving care whilst we are seeking a permanent owner for the animal. If you take an animal for a limited time, we guarantee not to leave it with you any longer than agreed. Please email us or call 6979 798202.

March 2010 - Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of The Ark will take place on Wednesday 10 March 2010 at 19.30 pm at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Corfu Town. If the required number of members is not available at 19.00 the meeting will still start at 19.30. All existing and prospective members of the Ark are encouraged to attend.

March 2010 - New Look for Ark Shop