Measures for Stray Dogs in Heraklion – The Animals Shelter in Heraklion

Measures for stray dogs in Heraklion

The Municipality of Heraklion will be soon taking measures for the stray dogs, as decided in a meeting of the vice-mayor Manolis Alexakis with the representatives of Animal Protection Associations.

The members of the Heraklion Municipality gave the details of the project regarding the building of facilities of the Municipal shelter for stray dogs and Mr Alexakis promised that soon the facilities will have power and the rest of buildings will be restored in order to host up to 40 animals.

It was also decided to buy 500 collars for the stray dogs and the ones that will be released after their neutering and treatment for parasites at the shelter, as well as microchips for the animals to be released or the ones adopted by the residents of Heraklion. The municipality also decided to print flyers with messages and guidelines for the obligations of the owners of animals given by vets and pet shops.

The Municipality decided to establish days of adoption every two months at the centre of Heraklion and the establishment of a lottery supported by sponsors in order to raise money for the purchase of a vehicle to carry the dogs to the shelter.

The Heraklion Municipality will also collaborate with the elementary schools, providing them with instructional and informational material specially designed for children, and will create TV commercials and spots for the public bus screens, as well as billboards with informational messages.

The Municipality will co-host the event for the Animal’s day at the city centre and will promote the new website for adoption featuring the healthy, friendly and neutered animals of the shelter, through the shelter’s page in the website of Heraklion Municipality or its Facebook page (both pages are in Greek only).

It was also discussed to place large bowls with water for the animals in proper areas, to organize educational galas with the participation of famous speakers, create TV spots and more.

The Animals Shelter in Heraklion

The Animals Shelter in Heraklion operates since 2004 and is located at the Foinikia Area, a few kilometers south of the city.

Today, the shelter hosts up to 20 dogs for three weeks. Five employees work permanently in the shelter, collecting the stray dogs from the different areas of the municipality, vaccinate them, neuter them and free them again at the area where they were living.

For the time being, the shelter doesn’t accept dogs younger than six months because they cannot be sterilized and there is not enough space to host them until their vaccinations are done.

Stray animals at Heraklion Municipality

It’s worth mentioning that from the 3,000 stray animals, as estimated, at the Heraklion Municipality, only one fourth are really stray animals, while the rest are dogs left by their owners to walk around unsupervised.

There are many complaints regarding great numbers of stray dogs in particular areas within the city of Heraklion. But when the personnel of the kennel reaches these areas discovers that these are housed animals that do not bear the necessary microchip and wander around without the supervision of their owner.

The residents of Heraklion Municipality can address the kennel and declare the existence of strays or injured dogs in their area and also declare their will to adopt one of the dogs hosted in the area.
It can be understood that the personal work and task of the six employees of the kennel is not enough to resolve the eternal problem of the stray animals. Even the help provided by the animal associations and the vet club is not enough if all pet owners do not participate in this effort.

Every dog and pet owner has to take care for the marking and prosperity of the animal and avoid abandoning it. He has to prevent his dog from wandering outside the resident area unsupervised. The owners of female dogs have to prevent or not facilitate their reproduction and consider their sterilization. Every citizen that wishes to adopt a dog has to do it consciously, get information about his obligations towards the animal and the expenses required for its medical care.

The phone numbers to reach the kennel of Heraklion Municipality are: (0030) 6974997552, (0030) 6974997554 and (0030) 2810399265.

• Read about the World Animal Day 2009 in Heraklion, Crete