Sunday, March 15, 2015

Would you like a lovely Greek cat... or two?

So here's the scoop. In two weeks, I am flying to Greece to visit my friends Joan and Richard on the beautiful island they live on. And I'm bringing back these four...


Archie, Agnes, Annuk and Amber!

(Yes, poor Gordon has to stay here and look after our crew.)

Like our current trio of  Greek kitties, these four were left to die in a dumpster. But Joan rescued them and had them vaccinated and neutered. She already has many cats in her rescue, and was going to have to send these four back to the wild to take their chances, and was understandably upset about that.


I think I have posted about these four before. Joan thought they were pretty special.



She ells their story here.




So I told Joan that if we could get them to Canada, I would foster them and find them adoptive homes.



Initially Joan's husband was going to bring the cats over himself and amazingly, Joan has already fundraised quite a sum of money to contribute to their flight!

But then Joan had a fall and is now in the midst of a lengthy recuperation. So she and her husband wondered if I might come to Greece to get the cats and fly back with them.

Twist my arm! :) I've been living on the Arctic Tundra here since November!

So I'm leaving in two weeks to spend  ten days on a Greek island with my very favourite crazy cat lady, her husband, and their beautiful felines. I will give Joan a hand with the care of her rescue cats while I'm there, then bring home this quartet in the heated cargo hold of a Lufthansa jet (which is how my trio travelled.) It's all booked.

So my next step will be to find homes for them all!


This is Amber. She is the shy one, but so lovely!

Now, I am still volunteering with the Ontario SPCA and our local shelter, and still doing lots to help (and rescue!) animals locally, but I want to help these four as well. Joan does absolutely amazing work saving cats in Greece, where they are, for the most part, regarded as vermin and even poisoned like rats. This is not to say all Greek people do this, because there are some wonderful, caring people helping and adopting cats there. But it is much harder to find homes for cats in Greece, where times are tough for humans right now, never mind cats. And I wanted to help Joan by helping these cats. Plus our own Greek trio is absolutely amazing.

 Joan does a fantastic job of bringing up sociable, beautiful cats.


Aggie and Annuk. Sisters!


Amber again.

So if you are interested in adopting one of these beautiful felines, let me know! I am willing to transport them a certain distance by car. I'm an hour from either Ottawa or Montreal, and 30 minutes from the border crossing at Massena, NY.

They are fixed, vaccinated and microchipped.


 Agnes (Aggie)... love those toes!








Annuk

Let me know if you are interested in adopting one! And if you can't adopt a cat but would like to help out, Joan is selling these lovely cards on her Etsy site to raise money for these four, and the other cats in her rescue.


Buy the card here! And visit Joan's Facebook page, God's Little People, here.

(All photos in this post were taken by Joan!)


Please consider opening your heart and home to one of these beautiful Greek cats. You won't regret it. And please help spread the word!

13 comments:

  1. Beautiful post, Natalie. I'll add a link on mine. Deb

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  2. They are lovely cats, so pretty! What an awful start, but I'm glad your friend Joan was willing to care for them and you are willing to travel to Greece to bring them to Canada.

    I hope they find their forever homes soon. I'm not in a place to take another cat in but I can't imagine anyone seeing the pictures of these four not wishing they could.

    Good luck!

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  3. Oh, they are simply beautiful! What a horrible thing to do to leave cats to die in a dumpster... I have no words for some humans... I can't take any in because we already have two male cats in the house but I will post your link on my social sites. :) I hope they'll find new homes.

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  4. Natalie, you're an angel. I did feel such an overwhelming sense of despair after I had them neutered and realizing there was no other option than returning them to live out their lives in the field by the dumpster - UNLESS some miracle happened and someone stepping forward to offer them homes. So really, you provided such a wonderful ray of hope when it appeared their fate was already sealed. It's difficult to describe just how despairing the prospect was of returning them to the field - I've seen SO many young cats die here and not surviving beyond 6 months. It's a desperate situation for cats here but I'm so heartwarmed that so many people stepped forward wanting to help. The response has been amazing. These four cats actually have already received so much help in getting them to where they are now. Strangers have helped contribute towards their initial double vaccination, parasite treatment and now this incredible gift of a chance for a new life away from the discarded life by a dumpster on a greek island. You offering to foster them and helping in finding them new homes - it's a very outstanding act and I feel so unbelievably grateful. I hope all of their adoption stories will be every bit as remarkable as their unique luck. We can't wait to see you here Natalie!!

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  5. You are *just* as crazy as me! It's fun.

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  6. What sweet faces. They are lucky to have found Joan and you. :)

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  7. Such sweet cats.
    Purrs to you for helping with them and purrs they get loving homes :)
    Purrs Georgia and Julie,
    Treasure and JJ

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  8. you are so lucky to be able to go to Greece (it is my dream to go there) and to spend time with Joan, and you are an Angel to bring those gorgeous kitties home. It is times like this one that I wish I had a large home and a better financial situation, I would take them all!

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  9. Enjoy your trip!

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  10. What a fun trip you have planned! And how great of you to help these kitties out. They're gorgeous and you shouldn't have a problem finding them all homes. :)

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  11. I remember being on the small Greek island of Kos, and seeing strays all over the place (as well as dogs). There are so many I expect it's difficult to know quite what to do with them all. Those 4 look beautiful, and have obviously been well cared for. Good luck, and well done!

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  12. oh how absolutely awful you have to go to Greece for ten whole days and hang out with ... cat people..

    *wink*

    I'm sorry to hear that Joan isn't feeling well enough to go with the original plan, but I think this is a wonderful bonus for you.

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    1. Horrific, isn't it? HOw I suffer for the cats! ;))

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!