Weblog 2009

5th November 2009

We are 2 days into a week of promised severe rain and storms, oh how we love Corfu in the winter! However, with our extra stables we are better prepared. All our wonderful volunteers have gone home and the ‘few’ are left to see the donkeys through the next 6 months. A few weeks ago I stopped at my local petrol station in the middle of yet another storm and asked Kostas when the rain would stop, he replied, “next summer”. He isn’t wrong really.

Yet another saga is developing over the olive tree. We finally located the owner of the land the tree is on, a retired policeman. I arranged a meeting with him. Tassos showed me that he owned half stremata of land (1/8 acre) with 4 olive trees on it. He said he would cut down the offending olive tree in 2 days if I agreed to buy all 4 olive trees for 2,500 euros. We had no choice and the extra piece of land would be most suitable as a parking area. But Tassos wanted this deal done with no lawyers and no information to the tax man. I was supposed to sign a paper that he produced. We had no evidence that he owned the land but he said he and his brother would sign the paper too. I told him I would have to consult my lawyer and we parted company.

A week later the tree was still in situ and no word from Tassos. Then he rang and said the paper was ready and his mother was signing it. A bit worrying. I told him to ring my lawyer. Lyberis than phoned me and told me that Tassos had changed his mind yet again. Tassos had said he was emotionally attached to the olive trees and could not bear to cut them down but if I brought the land I could do what I wanted. I agreed again to buy the land but only in a legal and proper way. Our only other choice would be court action which we would win but would take a long time and cost a lot of money and as I was advised, make an enemy of our new neighbour, as would any attempt to just cut the tree and take the consequences. I certainly have no intention of upsetting the neighbours before we even move in.

So we waited for Tassos to make contact again which he did, this time he said he would cut down the tree himself if I gave him €500. His emotional attachment apparently forgotten. So I agreed, give me a date, time and place, I would watch him cut down the tree and hand him the money. I am still waiting for this date or his next idea. Meanwhile the weather has changed and any thoughts of building this year seem unlikely but in this strange and difficult Island, anything is possible with patience.

Tina, my friend from Germany came over to help for a week and Paul my old friend from UK came to help for 3 weeks and we had a lovely German family, Waldi, Klaus, Isabell and Julien volunteer for a week all in October. Paul built 3 extra stables, did lots of repairs. Klaus and Paul built a temporary shelter at the new place so our donkeys there had some shelter from the bad weather. Paul and Klaus were busy all week repairing and building and improving. I brought a lot of sand for the inside of the stables. We hope this will help improve conditions under foot, and be much better for the hooves of the donkeys, keeping them off the wet ground and soggy straw bedding. It is an experiment, we will see the results. Tina, Waldi and the children were busy at the shelter doing all the normal necessary chores plus grooming and walking donkeys and dogs. It was a wonderful week with wonderful people.

9th November
Tassos says he will call me this week and cut down the olive tree. I am not holding my breath. But I have an alternative plan if he fails to cut the tree! I will not be thwarted.

We are doing the ground work that will enable the cattle tent from Austria to be erected. Kindly donated by Gut Aiderbichl it will ensure we can move more donkeys to the new land and they will be warm and dry.

Brigitte’s sponsorship has been taken over by Krystle. I think Brigitte just couldn’t stand another winter here. Cheryl is working for us 3 days a week too thanks to Tina and Juergen. So I am not alone. But we will be alone over the 2 week Christmas and New Year period, so if anyone wants to help out over this period, please don’t hold back – volunteer!

One of our latest newcomers to the shelter is Cookie. Unbelievably she is actually a very healthy and happy donkey who just happens to have a serious deformity. She is only 10-12 years old. Her photos have been examined by vets in Holland and Belgium and it is believed Cooki was born like this. She is really sweet and behaves no different than any of our other donkeys.

Late NewsFlash
At 11.30am, Tuesday 10th November – the olive tree was toppled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd October 2009

It’s Sunday, a beautiful morning and just another day in paradise! OK, so I am in an optimistic mood. Things have been going very well generally for CDR the last month, we won the court case, we raised 3,500 euros at the auction and were given a very large donation from Austria (see below) which means we can really make a start with building the new shelter. On the downside, we have many sick donkeys that need constant attention and some may not make it. But that is what we face all the time here, so rare is there a day when we don’t have extra special worries over and above the general running of the shelter and keeping the donkeys in good health. Where do I start……………..

I think, with the auction. My sincere and personal thanks to all the artists who contributed their work for our auction. Your generosity ensured the great success of the event and the wonderful amount of money raised which will go directly towards the new donkey hospital stables. I also thank everyone who attended and so kindly brought the art work. It was a wonderful evening and I thank Bill Farmer for stepping in at the last minute to take over the organization of the event and Dagmar and Machos who kindly let us stage the event at Hotel Nefeli and did all the organizing on site. We will dedicate one of the new hospital stables to the artists of Corfu.

The Ezelsocieteit team was here last week, well they left yesterday, and the place seems sadly very empty. (See links page to learn about the work of this wonderful donkey shelter in Holland) But we have many happier and healthier donkeys because of the visit. Vera, the founder of this charity, organizes the trip for herself and 2 volunteers, Jerry and Annalou and Hans the farrier and donkey expert and Alex the equine dentist. In a week much work was done, teeth extracted, leveled, cleaned and feet trimmed and corrected, diseases discovered (laminitis) and much needed advice given in all aspects of donkey welfare. I always feel better informed and encouraged by these visits and the emotional support I get is invaluable. They even left us with a sand pit for our laminitic and sore footed donkeys. The dogs rather love to play in it also and unfortunately it makes a great toilet for the cats.

Eleni, who I wrote about in the last blog had a serious setback some weeks ago. After her initial improvement she got worse, we didn’t know why, and could no longer stand up on her own. We brought her back from the new field to the shelter so we could help her more. Every day we had to pick her up, she happens to be the largest and heaviest donkey we have ever had, so this is a major job for 3 or 4 people!! She would only stand an hour or two before lying down again. Her future looked grim. Hans the farrier discovered she had a laminitis attack in her front feet and this was the reason, probably caused by all the stress of her previous foot and knee problems. She also seemed so unusually weak and we believe she had eaten a toxic plant in the new field. We seriously considered ending it all for her but then I listened to a friend and started intense homeopathic treatment, her feet were treated and we gave lots of power food. She is making considerable improvement but still cannot stand without help. We will persevere for this courageous, stoic donkey and hope that she wins in the end. But with winter coming, a shortage of volunteers and students to help, we cannot promise anything.

Oreia, also written about last month, is almost as good as new, in a few weeks her wound will be fully healed.

We were given 3 donkeys over the last month with serious cases of laminitis, they are making slow progress but we have no reason to believe they won’t make a full recovery. Yammas who came in with serious colic and a very serious leg injury is on the mend now, we just need her to eat a lot more to give her more strength. Skalia arrived a few weeks ago, seriously malnourished and weak. For the first week she would not eat. We suspected she had severe teeth problems. After a course of antibiotics and pain killer she gained an appetite but not enough, Alex removed 3 teeth and did lots of dental work on her and she should have improved considerably but she stopped eating again. I again, had to think about euthanasia to prevent further suffering but before I had chance to deal with it, yesterday she started to eat again, not a lot, but enough to give us some hope and to fight for her survival. Time will tell.

The olive tree is still causing us problems and no-one is able to contact the owner to get permission to cut it down. No work can be started until its removal. A small problem becoming a major obstruction. But there is always a solution, we will find it.

Notice – We had a visit from a lovely young Greek couple in September. They have been renting a house on Corfu the last 5 months. They offered their help and left me their phone number. Unfortunately that night the rats found the notebook and decided to tear it up for some nice winter bedding and the phone number is lost in the bowels of our concrete floor. All I remember is the man was called Vangellis. If you are reading this Vangellis please get in touch again, we so want and need your help!

More potentially good news. Hans the farrier from Holland, has arranged that we can send 10 donkeys to a new shelter in Holland. This is wonderful with our ever increasing numbers and winter coming, it is vital to get some of the healthier donkeys away. It gives us more time to help the needier ones. All we need now is 8000 euros to pay for the transport! Any offers out there???

The Tina and Juergen Bolz Foundation have very generously donated the finances for us to offer a job, 3 days a week to help throughout the coming months. We are delighted that Cheryl from CARE, a former volunteer of ours, is taking on the job. A strong, reliable and hard worker, it is great news for us, and will help a lot. Many of you know her I am sure.

Sadly since writing the above a few days ago, Yammas died. No warning at all. I went to my caravan to get some supper and half an hour later came out and he was gone. Heart failure maybe? But we know he had a wonderful month with us and found some peace, comfort and friendship. We will miss him, he was so sweet and gentle.

Mirthe our student of the last 9 weeks, finishes on Saturday. An excellent student and friend of the donkeys, she will be missed very much by the 4 legged and 2 legged. Mirthe, at only 18 years, was my ‘right hand man’ and she will be very much missed.

Chris Palmer who visited the Island in the summer with her husband, came back for a week’s voluntary work. It makes a big difference having the extra pair of hands and ensures the donkeys get that little bit of extra time. Thanks Chris, we hope you will come back next year.

Paul, a friend of mine from UK is here now, putting up some temporary new shelters at the old shelter, to ensure that all the donkeys have a warm stable to live in this winter. It sets my mind at rest that we can cope a little better. It is being built with materials that can be taken down and reused at the new shelter next year, so no wasted money.

Caring for the Animals Trust – Saving Greek Animals, based in UK has just donated 1000 euros towards the transport to Holland, our sincere thanks for getting the ball rolling on this expense.

That’s about it for now. Please keep the donations coming in. Despite our windfall from Austria, which must be spent on building the new place, we are always struggling for running costs in the winter. The tourist donations keep us going in the summer but in the winter we struggle. Our thanks to everyone who has visited and donated, who have sent donations and parcels, brought carrots, apples and bread, without you all we could not continue the work. There is much to be done in the next year getting the new shelter up and running and caring for the animals in the coming winter. This has been a good year and with your help we have managed to save many more donkeys from a horrible fate, we hope our run of good luck accompanied be exceptionally hard work by all, will continue.

Corfu Donkey Rescue are pleased to announce that we won the court case brought against us by the neighbours, with many false allegations, in an effort to get the Shelter removed from its present location.!

The judge has decided that CDR can stay open in its present location indefinitely. However, there is a compromise, that we have only 20 donkeys on the premises at any one time. But I call that a resounding win. We have the new land, a large tent shelter coming from Austria and therefore can move the extra donkeys to the new shelter in a month or so. Our 20 sickest donkeys can stay here at the old shelter in the stables until the Spring when we hope to have built at the new location.

Our sincerest thanks and congratulations to our lawyer Lyberis Tryfon (6944374173) and thanks to Dino, our vet the main witness, and Dimitris from EcoCorfu our second witness.

A huge thanks to everyone else for their support through this very difficult and worrying 2 years.

In addition to our excelent news above we would like to say that the Art Auction held last Sunday evening went very well too. It was very well supported and raised a large amount of money for the Donkeys, (final amounts are not known yet) again many thanks to everyone involved and everyone who attended the auction and supported us.

Finally the end of August arrives and I cheer as I know cooler weather is not so far away. Am I the only one who detests the blistering heat. Up here on the plateau it seems so much hotter.

Last week we finally got mains water on the new land. My constant visits to the local Dimos paid dividends and we have been given a temporary supply from the fire hose mains. Now we can move another 10 donkeys over to the new land. I am thinking of a name for this new shelter, any ideas? We still have to find the owner to cut down the offending olive tree that blocks the entrance. The Deputy Mayors promises to do this have been fruitless. We are now racing against time to deal with this problem as we need a JCB in to excavate the area to be concreted. I will not have these heavy machines in once the rain starts as it will destroy our beautiful surface. So it seems now I have to go to the Nomaheio every other day to get this problem dealt with.

We have been promised a huge cattle tent from Gut Aiderbichl, Austria. This is strong enough to withstand the Corfu winter – if erected correctly and we will be calling on Corfu residents to help with this task – and able to hold 40 donkeys inside, so hopefully we will be able to keep some donkeys on the new land all winter, leaving the disable and sick at the old. We wait excitedly for the arrival of the tent.

On Sunday we have our Art Auction to help raise funds for the new shelter hospital and stables. All sorts of things are up for auction from 10 euros to 500 euros, something to suit the purse of everyone. Including surprise lots, tennis lessons, beauty treatments and many other generously donated gifts. I will be taking Paraskevi our baby donkey and one of our little oldies. It will be a nice social evening, so come along and support the donkeys, at the very least buy a t-shirt for a Christmas present! Look at the website to see all the lots. Even if you live abroad you can make bids over the internet see the site:
http://cdr-auction.webs.com/

Stan and Alban our French volunteers have left us. They were excellent workers and we will miss them. It was nice having a few men about the place too and helping me with the heavy work, which they did with ease. Mirthe, our new Dutch student arrived a few weeks ago and is doing an excellent job too, and this week 2 new Dutch students, Elianne and Joyce, start their training here, so we will have a full house again after a short period of short staff.

I forgot to mention the Court Case in the last blog. How could I? We had as our main witness, Dino our vet. He did exceptionally well after over an hour’s questioning and cross examination, I believe the opposition realized things were not going well for them and so they then accused us of sending all our donkeys to Italy for slaughter. This was not on the initial prosecution papers and should not have been allowed by the judge, but he did allow it. However, I welcomed the opportunity to prove once and for all that we never send animals for slaughter. The judge heard some of the evidence but as is the case in Greek Courts, a decision is not made there and then. Over the next few days we had to gather all our evidence and get it translated into Greek! And hand it in to the court for consideration. To date we have not heard any results.

The sad news is that our wonderful Sirus died last week. She was one of our oldest remaining residents having been here 5 years, and a very special donkey to me. Also we have lost 2 more cats to poisoning. But on the up side, we have managed to save the lives of 4 donkeys that came in with terrible problems that I thought we would never cure. But perseverance on our part and especially the donkeys, paid off, and they are now up and walking. Oreia gave us the most worries, lying down in her stable, unable to stand. Each day we would have to lift her and put her in a sling. It was hard painstaking work and I know a few thought I should quit for the sake of the donkey and their backs! After 3 weeks I was on the verge of making that final decision when a massive unseen abscess burst and since then she has made a slow recovery. Now she is living the life of a healthy donkey and only needs constant first aid while the abscess, now an open wound, heals. Even our ‘doubting Thomas’ neighbour, Spiros, called it a miracle!

Eleni came in suffering from horrendously infected hooves, even a keratoma in one. But after much treatment and changes of treatment over the months, as things we tried didn’t always work, she is now walking well, the only pain coming from an old knee injury. It is reassuring to know that over the years we are learning a lot and able to work with this extra knowledge and have more successes. It does help morale and to make up for the losses. It was George Varotsis and old friend and student vet from Thessaloniki Vet School, who visited us for 3 days in August that finally sorted out Eleni. After 3 years of study he came with much more experience and was able to advise us on a few problems we had. Also he found another problem with Eleni’s hoof and after treatment, I am delighted to say, that Eleni made much more rapid progress in recovery, I had nearly given up hope.

We were asked to take part in some research being done at the vet school in order to find out, I think, about the origins of the Greek donkey or at least the gene pool. 20 donkeys had blood samples taken, tail hair and measurements by George which were then passed on to the University.

We have had many visitors this summer, new friends and our regulars. It has been wonderful to meet everyone and receive all the special and vital gifts and supplies they bring for the donkeys, dogs, cats and rabbits. My friend, El Mens from Holland is here and helping for the 3rd year running. El makes Xara’s boots, name tags for the donkeys, organizes volunteers from Holland and countless other things for us when she is not here.

We are expecting the “Ezelsocieteit” team from Zeist in a few weeks, with a farrier and dentist and volunteers. That is always a good week for the donkeys and a special one for me. Many donkeys get their first dental treatment or professional foot treatment in their lives.
That’s about it for now, will keep in touch.

We are having a truly hot summer, I am finding it especially hard, must be old age. Living in caravans is not to be recommended at all. Psela recovered fully from her illness but then found the heat hard to bear and is given showers and wet towels to keep her cool each day. The others seem to cope better, some not worried about the sun and staying out all day and others seeking and finding the preferred shade. For us, the unusual June thunder storms were most welcome but now it will be nothing but heat til September. Grin and bear it we must.

The 14 donkeys all arrived safely and happily in Austria after their 2 day journey. They were all blood tested by the state vets before departure and given a clean bill of health the day before they left. On day of departure Dino even came to check again and between him, me and the transporter we gave little Sounia a cortisone injection to help her on her way, such a sensitive little soul she is. Yiannis kept us informed the whole journey of the progress and rang as soon as they were all safely in Gut Aiderbichl. A vet was there to check them on arrival and all looked great. The TV crew was there plus hundreds of visitors to greet them. What a better start to a new life could they have, a huge tent, green fields and plenty of food and welcome. Another transport was organized for September, in which 20 more could leave for this new life. With that in mind, I was even able to take in a few more donkeys, knowing there would be a place to go very soon.

I am delighted to say that the fence is now erected around our new land. We found an excellent Greek company on the Island and I have to say, they were truly professional and did a wonderful job. Today I go with the boss to count the metres of fence so I can pay. But it is truly money well spent and will last for many decades to come. As many of you have seen at our present location, the fencing is terrible and it shows that the initial layout of professional fencing is well worth it. We have the land and we have the fence. So as soon as we get water, we can move some of the donkeys into the land as there are plenty of trees to provide shade. I am looking forward to that day very much.

Land with new fencing

Of course, we now need to build the stables but there is absolutely no money in the kitty for that. We will have to build as and when we gain enough funds to do a shelter at a time. So, unless we get a very generous benefactor with a large sum, most of the donkeys will all be staying at our present location for the winter. They are old and absolutely must have shelter, warm stables and heating in the cold wet winter months. However, I am not downhearted. Last year we had no land and no fence. This year we have made great progress for such a tiny organization. Next year, who knows what the situation will be.

Entrance to our Land

On a less happy note, we lost Avrio and Oriana in the last 6 weeks. Avrio was put to sleep after suffering a massive COPD (Asthma) attack and Oriana died from colic. Also, we lost our dear little Niko, the 3 legged cat whose photo is in the last blog. He suffered from a 2nd bladder stone infection and never came round from the operation. A week later one of our feral cats, Jack, was found dead and then a day after our dearest Chuck (who was brought in along with Niko) was found writing around in agony after being poisoned. Despite our best efforts little Nikos didn’t make it. It was very upsetting for me to lose these wonderful stoical animals. It was 3 days before I could account for all our other cats and know that they were safe, for now. After the disappearance of Meli our dog who has never been found, and now poison put in the vicinity, I live in fear at what may be attempted next. I can only hope that they will not take it out on the donkeys as this would be too obvious. With no evidence to prove the culprits there is nothing that can be done but the incidents have been reported to the police along with the information that the gate to the shelter was opened at 11.30 one night and the donkeys let out on the road. But it really does make me believe we should move from here as soon as we possibly can. If the animals cannot be safe at a shelter, then it has become a dangerous place. Our 3 kittens photographed last blog, found homes thanks to the intervention of AAWF.

We had a successful meeting with the deputy mayor of Paleocactritsa, thanks to our board member, Andreas Scuperas. We asked for 5 things to help us at the new shelter and to speed up the move and 3 that were possible, were granted. They promised to connect the water, repair the road and find the owner of an olive tree blocking our entrance to large vehicles. 2 days later, I was told our water application was approved and went in to pay, and the road was bulldozed ready for tarmac when they can do it. So congratulations to the local Dimos, we have their full support along with the Governor of Corfu. It’s been a long time coming but shows what progress we have made and how we have impressed them with our resilience to problems and determination to be heard so that we can continue to help the donkeys of Corfu. Thanks to everyone for your support.

Our 4 Dutch student, Marloes, Janeke, Peggy and Antoinette left after helping and studying for 6 weeks. Anne came over from Qatar for a month and was a wonderful help, especially taking care of our ‘little’ animals that tend to be left out of the loop as there are so many big ones and so much work with them. We are left with the 2 French students, Stan and Alban who are here for 3 months and are absolutely great; working very quietly and diligently. In August we are expecting more Dutch students who will just get ‘broken in’ before the 2 boys leave.

Anne taking her duties seriously as rabbit carer

Team of volunteers

So on the whole, positive news all round. Donkeys dying, unfortunately, is a sad fact of the work, as we only take the old and sick and abused. But we can only get over the losses by knowing that we gave them the very best life and help that is possible here in Corfu. That way we can continue our work to help the remaining and those that are unknowingly waiting their turn to come here for a bit of ‘the good life’ especially when they can go the new land.

Dinner time!!!!

New chicken - just moved in!!

and our other residents

On the 2nd May I flew to Munich for a busman’s holiday. Meeting up with Andrea and Erika, they took me to Gut Aiderbichl (GA) near Salzburg in Austria to meet all the donkeys that had been sent there for a new life, from Corfu Donkey Rescue, in the last 3 years. It was also a long awaited opportunity to meet Michael Aufhauser, the Founder of GA and the man who had offered to take in our donkeys and give them a final home in animal paradise. I had a wonderful day. Michael was the perfect host, the donkeys were having a wonderful life and I met on the day, many friends new and old. I am happy that the donkeys sent to GA have the best possible life there and Michael assured me he was willing to take many more.

After a week in Germany visiting friends and having a much needed break I was then taken to The Ezelsocietiet near Zeist in Holland where I met again many friends and my donkeys that we had sent to this wonderful shelter the last few years. Vera, as ever, the excellent host and a great day had by all.

My thanks to everyone for a time to remember, especially Tina and Juergen, Andrea and Erika and Iris, my friend from Animal’s Angels charity who all let me stay with them and ensured I had a super break. I recommend that if you have the chance, visit Gut Aiderbichl and The Ezelsocieteit and see the wonderful work they are doing for animals.

On my return to Corfu, we finally received the news that the 15 donkeys could leave for a new life in Gut Aiderbichl. On 18th May, the transport arrived and we bade a happy farewell to 14 donkeys. They arrived safely and to great fanfare in Austria and will be featured on the annual TV programme near Christmas, in Austria.

Sadly Psela, who was due to go to Gut Aiderbichl and then on to Ezelscietiet, could not leave. She fell ill a week before the transport left. We feared she would lose her battle for life and came within hours of putting her to sleep. But by some miracle and a lot of honey, water, minerals and vitamins she regained her strength. She is eating a lot now but is not quite back to her normal old self. But we think she will be ok with a few more weeks of tender loving care and good food.

We have not made much progress with the new land. Bureaucracy, rules and regulations are making things difficult but we do hope to have the fence up in a few weeks and be able to move some donkeys there. But I anticipate we will remain at the old shelter for the duration of the summer.

This new land is a wonderful gift for the donkeys, only made possible by 2 large donations, from Robert Bartella and his family and from The Tina and Juergen Bolz Foundation. Our sincere thanks to both and we will do them proud by making the shelter a safe haven for the donkeys of Corfu.

After the donkeys left we were down to 30 on the site of the shelter (with 6 others out in foster homes on the Island). We enjoyed for a short while, having less work to do, but as is always the case, this is short lived, and already we have taken in 7 more welcome little hardship cases.

We are blessed with a full contingent of staff. 4 Dutch students, 2 French students and Anne a volunteer from Qatar. So the donkeys are really getting some tender loving care and lots of walks and grooming.

Last week, Mark Brettell, a farrier from Wales, arrived to do all the donkeys feet. He was sponsored by The International Donkey ProtectionTrust and we thank them for this much welcome financial help. Mark gave his services free of charge and lost a week’s work at home in the process. So this was very generous of him. He did a wonderful job on all the donkeys, gave us advice on how to prevent some of the problems and helped in training our students in foot care, so everyone benefitted.

We have started (not me) a CDR Facebook page, Please join as a friend. It is as good as a petition. Numbers mean power! The big court case is on 24th June, only a week away.

Last week, 4 days before the court case about the dogs, our lovely Meli disappeared and the night of the court case (which we won) the big main gate to the shelter was found open at 11pm and donkeys were on the road. I leave you to draw your own conclusions………..

We have taken in 4 more donkeys in the last month from the gypsies and collect one from an elderly lady in Lefkimmi this week. All donkeys are old but in reasonable condition. But one has a serious problem under the hoof which makes her very lame and she lies down a great deal. Mark was able to help her further and we hope she will make a good recovery soon.

Since I am fully staffed for a while, I hope to update you more often. But you know what it is like…………..

Thanks to all of the visitors that have come already and shown their support, brought goodies for the donkeys, cats and dogs and some even for the rabbits and chickens! There has been plenty of donkey walking and brushing, so donkeys are very happy with all the attention.

24th April 2009

Yes, we finally succeeded

We have finally got our piece of land for the new shelter. You can imagine we are all relieved and very happy that at last the donkeys will have a permanent home of their own. Now the next task is to fence it, design it and build it – and get a license. Our lawyer Lyberis has been instrumental in the purchase of the land and we can’t thank him enough. Now we have to go through all the procedures for making the shelter legal. That will be a long and expensive task. But we will persevere as always and win in the end!

We have Brigitte and David here and now two students; Tara and Lianne from Holland have joined us for 6 weeks. Also we have the help of Deb and Mo from UK and America, who are camping at the shelter for 3 weeks to help us too. We are truly fully staffed for once! So I have had plenty of time to do the administration. Boring but necessary.

We are still having problems exporting the donkeys. Our state vets in Corfu have finally agreed that the donkeys can leave but now we have problems in Athens. I am not sure who is at the heart of the problems however. Firstly we were told that donkeys HAD TO HAVE Greek PASSPORTS. (The Greeks do not have a Passport Issuing Office (PIO) for donkeys). However, I have since sent them a letter from the EU Commission that clearly states that the donkeys can have a passport from ANY MEMBER STATE. This means that the UK passports we have offered to get for all the donkeys are valid. But still we are told that if the donkeys being exported come from a shelter, that shelter must be licensed. This obviously causes us a problem. BUT no-one will tell me where they get this legislation from, where is it written? However, we are optimistic. Gut Aiderbichl is waiting for the donkeys and want to come and film them leaving Corfu.

In early May I will go to Germany and visit the donkeys we have previously sent to Gut Aiderbichl and Zeist and reestablish our contacts and see many friends. I shall be at Gut Aiderbichl on Sunday 3rd May. A busman’s holiday as usual. The court case is to be adjourned and a new date established. Hopefully, with lots of hard work and the wind behind us, all the donkeys will be in the new shelter before the court hearing. The accommodation for them will be very basic and temporary until money can be raised to build according to regulations.

Sadly we have had one donkey loss since the last blog. Lazari passed away, she had very bad colic. She had colic in previous years but this time we could not save her. Information from a website, using data from research done on DS donkeys in UK, indicate that colic is a very common problem for them too and that their losses amount to 51% of those that fall ill. It was useful to know that with all the facilities and best medical care in the world, they had substantial losses. It made us feel a little better about our losses, as most of you know our facilities are poor and veterinary knowledge for equines very limited on the Island. The research indicates that those donkeys that have a history of colic, are old and have poor teeth, are more prone to colic. Poor Lazari fitted every criteria.

We have 3 new donkeys, one who came from the gypsies, she is very sweet but is taking her time in learning to trust us. She may have had bad experiences in the past, but with time and patience she will learn she is now safe and there is no need to be afraid anymore. A second came from Giannades village, her owner could not look after her anymore and the 3rd was found abandoned near Giannades. Fortunately none have any serious health problems.

On 23rd April we were on Greek Sky TV. It is very good for us to be on Greek TV as many Greeks do not know we exist and it is difficult to reach them. I did not see the short film as I was in the middle of the country walking the dogs when I received a call to say it was on TV. But immediately afterwards I received a call from a lady in Athens offering support and importantly offering to translate the website to Greek for us. This is wonderful news. Next week we are being interviewed for a German radio programme. I hope to inform you when it will be aired. It would be good to get some feedback from any of the media work we do. I need to know if I am giving the information that YOU want to hear, that is important for new and old supporters to know. I have done quite a bit for TV over the years, Holland, Austria and Germany, but never see the results and as I have no experience it would be useful to hear what you think – good and bad. Sadly we have never had any interest shown in our work from my home country, England.

My apologies to all who try to connect with me on facebook. I actually don’t have a clue how to use it, don’t understand it and honestly don’t have time. The Corfu Donkey one probably is your best bet as it was started by someone who does know what they are doing! I will leave it to him and I will concentrate on building the shelter. If you want to contact me personally it is best done using my email address – I can work that!

It has come to our attention that some viewers to the website are using our photos for their own purposes and some are misinterpreting words put on the website and printing them elsewhere. On occasions these misinterpretations really give the wrong idea. We are always very happy to oblige regarding publicity for the shelter but we ask that first you check with us and send us a copy of anything that is written so we can correct any unintentional errors in meaning. Photos used from the site should always be credited to CDR.

We are looking forward to greeting our seasonal visitors again and hope that you will come with carrots and apples and the energy for a walk with the donkeys or a grooming session. The donkeys are waiting to be spoilt.

Peppy, one of our rescue dogs that was rehomed on the Island a few months ago, came to visit us with her new family yesterday. She looks absolutely fabulous and is very happy.

My sincere thanks to all of you for your continued support for the donkeys. We look forward to seeing all of you who will be visiting the Island this summer. We will let you know on the website WHEN we are moving to the new shelter. Hopefully before June.

11 March 2009

Brigitte arrived 13th February and set to work straight away. She has only ever been here before in the summer and so it was quite a shock to the system to work in rain and mud. Dave has recovered from his heart attack and is back working full time as well. So I finally have a lot of time to catch up on administration and attempt some serious fundraising. We also welcome Katie Flower who has joined the team helping on this side of the work and Dagmar who is assisting with fundraising and working one day a week for us with the donkeys. We are glad to report that Susan has returned to volunteering for us. We have 6 students expected over the summer, so the team is growing. This is wonderful news. Also we have El and Nadia working away in Holland for us. They deal with all the emails from Dutch enquirers and are instrumental in many projects past and present. El has engraved name tags for all our donkeys!! Bobby, one of our ex street dogs was adopted by The Ezelsocieteit shelter in Holland and is very busy supporting us next to El and Nadia, as the photos show.

I have asked for an update on Shoco’s progress for all who have asked, this is what I received

Erika just talked to Shoco's new family on the phone. They are very happy with him, even if he really is hyper active, but they find him funny and get along with him very well. Everything is also working fine with their female dog. She's become a bit livelier since Shoco's arrival and the family is very happy about it, since she was a bit too quiet for their taste before. He likes driving in the car; going for walks, and has already put on some weight (he was very thin when he arrived). He started going to dog school, which is necessary, because he has a lot to learn and he certainly can learn a lot, because he's intelligent. And last but not least, he is such a nice cuddly guy! So please reassure everybody and tell them Shoco is happy in Germany!

And I have some news about Fynn, another of our rescues, who was adopted by Austrians about 2 years ago. Fynn was diagnosed with Leishmania disease but this did not deter Gerald and Ursula Eigl from adopting him. Read his progress and see what a great time he is having. If you want to adopt a dog with Leishmania but are worried, this will prove that these dogs can lead excellent lives with very little medical care.

First the most important thing: Fynn is in best condition. Only getting a little bit chubby. He’s getting his pill every day, and there is not the merest hint about his disease. He’s such a good boy, accompanying me nearly everywhere, and such a loyal friend.

We’ve already been to Czech Republic several times, to Germany and to Italy, been fishing and sailing. He’s been accompanying me trekking on a glacier in the Alps, he loves driving in our 37 year old Volkswagen cabriolet, and in September we’ll go to Croatia for two weeks. I love him so much! Round about Christmas we’ve been to Gut Aiderbichl. Fynn saw some of his donkey friends from Corfu. And everybody at Gut Aiderbichl was impressed, that we’ve been to your home. Everybody knows you there, and they are taking about you will visit them sometimes. Your donkeys are so cool, enjoying their life and running around as free as they want.

Please note that we are NOT a dog rescue by any means. But occasionally a street dog finds its way to the shelter or is deliberately dumped here. The dog charities on the Island won’t help me by taking these dogs to their shelters so we have no choice but to take care of them. This causes us many problems as we do not have the facilities for them and it also costs us money that should be spent on the donkeys. Since we have no facilities for them the dogs have to run loose at the shelter (if we tie them up, the donkeys and people are in danger of tripping over the ropes plus we have no houses for them). For the last year we have had the few dogs that do play in the very quiet road in front of the shelter occasionally and this is against the law – new legislation dated August 2008. This has resulted in me having to appear in court on 13th March charged with the offence of allowing dogs to roam on the road!! So please don’t bring me any dogs, ever! Will let you know what happens in court. It has to be a first and hopefully will come to nothing.

Now the land. We are due to sign contracts on 18th March. There were a series of setbacks and problems, but God willing, the 18th will see our dream come to fruition. There will be an announcement on the website if it all goes well.The move will take a lot longer as we have to raise funds for all the building materials.

The transport – Our proposed export of October last year never happened thanks to the state vets of Corfu. However, we now have the legislation which is proof positive that one state vet lied and this legislation has been handed to the state vets. We have sent 2 letters asking for their co-operation but as yet have not had any written reply. We are in the process of getting all the donkeys a passport and we will not be deterred from exporting them. The donkeys will go to their new homes come hell or high water.

We are pleased to announce that we have finally found our pony, Kino, a super home on the Island. He is living in luxury and must think he has died and gone to heaven. He is very old and has waited a long time for such a lovely home – with a Greek family I might add.

We have taken in one new donkey, a tiny little girl we have called Zachari. She may well follow Kino to his new home, as this family would dearly love her too. She is extra cute. But first we wait a few weeks to make sure she is in good enough health to leave our care.

Already many of you are asking if you can bring some things for the donkeys when you come on your holidays. Everyone is so generous and we have quite a good stock of first aid kit for our donkeys. But listed below are a few items we can never have enough of. They are mostly lightweight or small in size.

Vetwrap bandages. These are elasticated, self adhesive bandages which come in many colours.

Gamgee veterinary tissue. These are specialized rolls of cotton wool type padding to go under bandages.

Dogs – worming tablets and flea treatments (we average 3 street dogs at a time).

Thanks to everyone who has voted for CDR in the Pavo poll. The poll closes on 14th March and results on 15th.

Spring is on its way, the blossom is out and things look good for the donkeys future…………thanks for your continued and much needed support.

I hope everyone had a great New Year and good holidays. Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all the cards, parcels and donations over the Christmas period. Donkeys, dogs and cats all got special treats.

We have been lucky so far with the weather. OK so the rain and storms have brought their own problems but importantly the temperatures have been mild. I notice from CNN news how cold it has been in Northern Europe. Still, winter is not over and in February last year we had temperature of minus 7 degrees. The donkey’s internal thermometers are confused and already they are starting to rub their coats and several already have bald patches, even those who have not worn rugs all winter. One, Viraq, who has a very sore back leg, bursts into a gallop when she sees me approach her with a rug! She makes it quite clear that she is hardy and no wimp needing protection. So I am having to take rugs off as many donkeys as I dare, but when it rains they go straight back on as the donkeys do chill very quickly in the heavy rain. Though it has to be said every donkey can get inside a shelter when it does rain and all apart from about three do run in the shelters when it rains and then as soon as it stops they emerge one by one outside.

Dave who arrived mid December is still with us, despite the extreme living conditions for humans! So between us we have coped through the Christmas break which has been very hard emotionally. Ekplixi was put to sleep just before Christmas, she suffered from a fall and this brought on a very severe COPD attack from which she never recovered. A few days before Christmas, Caitlin was continuing to suffer from COPD from which I could see she would not recover from. Unfortunately the vet was away over Christmas. Caitlin died peacefully on Christmas Day. Hoping for a better New Year, we were to see more misfortune. On New Year’s Day, two donkeys fell ill. Sounia seemed to have all the symptoms of colic and COPD. We treated her for both. And Shine our well known blind donkey could not swallow her food. After five days Sounia showed slow signs of improvement but Shine never recovered. She had a swelling on the side of her neck that was pressing on her oesophagus. This was stopping the food going down. Due to the fact of its position next to the jugular vein, we could not operate. Our vet Dino said he had neither the experience nor the facilities. We had no choice but to put her to sleep to avoid further suffering. Shine was probably our most well known donkey and a great ambassador for the shelter. All the donkeys are much missed.

It is unfortunate and unusual that we have lost three donkeys to COPD in the winter months, fortunately Sounia now seems fully recovered. The mild weather has been bizarre and the allergies that usually disappear in the winter are still being suffered by the affected donkeys. A few days ago I found a live tick (blood sucker) on one of the dogs and the flies are still about with the odd wasp and bee surfacing!

We have six other new mouths to feed. In the storms the rabbit cage was blown over and shunted several metres. The result was that the top storey of the cage collapsed into the bottom storey and therefore male bunny on top floor had a night’s access to the females below!! Good homes needed for 6 dwarf Old English rabbits.

I have two photos of the Memorial Day held at The Ezelsocieteit shelter in Zeist. They always include our donkeys that have passed away too. Thanks to El and Nadia from Holland who are regular volunteers here for being there and doing the posters for us.

One more note. A young girl from Switzerland came with her brother and parents last summer. The girl came back to do a day’s volunteering for us too. Later in the year she sent us a parcel containing bandages for the donkeys for which we were very grateful. However, I lost the address and have been unable to thank you. So I add a photo of you here with our donkey Sky, and hope you accept my apologies.

I want to do a big board of photos of tourists who have visited here. So if you have a favorite photo of your visit here please could you send it to me. Box 5210, Liapades, Corfu. The photo must have people on it AND a donkey. This is for publicity and to show the authorities just how much people want to see and help the donkeys and what it means to tourism in Corfu. This may encourage them to help us at the new shelter! We can but try.

And for those of you that remember him, our lovely wild and gormless dog Shoco finally got himself adopted in Germany before Christmas. We miss him so much but we couldn’t deny him his own very special home with new owners. Here he is. I hope he is still behaving.

Brigitte has booked her flights for 13th February and although she hasn’t enough sponsorship money yet to stay a whole year we will keep raising funds while she is here.

We have taken in two abandoned donkeys in the last week. One from Skombu area and one from Roda. Both donkeys were reported to us by Greeks. We are very happy that they are showing an interest and helping the donkeys! A great start to the New Year.