14/05/2024
*Calling all cat lovers. Please read*
We have received some disturbing and shocking news that our cats of Gavdos are to be cleared from the island, under the justification of bird ringing. I will post updates on Calypso's Cats of Gavdos, though I have been absent from the island for a while so I'm relying on relayed information for the moment.
A FB post has appeared on the Gavdos Municipality Page that the cat population will be removed from Gavdos and relocated to the mainland as a measure to protect the migratory bird species, as part of a collaboration with the Gavdos Bird Observatory. The posts in Greek are attached.
These posts make no reference to any official legislative directive, so this raises questions to which WE WANT ANSWERS.
Cat traps have been found in Kastri and cats have disappeared. So far, we have received conflicting informal and unverified reports that the cats were removed from the island on a truck, and taken via boat then by road to a shelter in Rethymno (another report claimed Heraklion).
However, we consider this highly unlikely.
There are in excess of 50 cats spread over the island. For the Municipality to suddenly announce cats will be removed, pay for all their transport, sterilisation and vaccination, then release them in towns already struggling without enough resources to take care of their existing cat populations, in terms of sterilisation, food and medicine, this seems extremely implausible.
We have NO PROOF that the cats are still alive and well, or have been taken somewhere to be sterilised, vaccinated and released safely with minimal disruption to the animal (refer to Greek law in the links below). So far, we only have one confirmed sighting of a cat actually leaving the island on a boat. The boat staff who were questioned confirmed they hadn't seen any cats on the boat before today.
All we know for sure is that suddenly traps are appearing, and our cats are disappearing.
We fear extermination.
Our cats on Gavdos are not wild but domesticated, and an integral part of the island, and are largely very dependent on humans. Most of our cats live close to human settlements and are not natural hunters, instead being fed by the residents and tourists who love them.
For those of us who are cat lovers, we know that cats are lazy - very few hunts actually result in a kill, and they'd prefer to scavenge, beg and go for smaller prey where at all possible. Our cats also love human company!
Regarding the cats who live further away from bins and taverna areas, their prey is rodents, small lizards and crickets - all of which are in abundance.
Further, the Gavdos Bird Observatory have recently reported via Facebook in April "fairly good numbers of birds" (on Gavdos) with "numbers starting to increase", followed by a post stating "the island is currently packed full of weak birds" (weak in this context doesn't refer to injury).
Does it sound to you like the cats are posing a "urgent" threat and an "enemy" to be eradicated, as described on the Gavdos Municipality page?
There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER to demonstrate that the cats are affecting the migratory numbers of birds present any more than any other event.
Indeed, Gavdos Bird Observatory have commented to explain the absence of birds early April. From their FB page: "We’re suspecting that most birds are either still stuck in Africa or have been following the current cloud of African dust which is headed towards Western Greece".
No mention of cats or other predators anywhere, yet supposedly it's suddenly a huge concern requiring immediate action.
Cats are sentient beings, each with their own personalities, who adore human contact, and have the right to life and to co-exist peacefully as we all do, as they have done to this day. Aside from our companionship, they are useful to protect our food from rats and mice, negating the need for rodent poisons entering our ecosystem.
The answer to addressing our cat population is sterilisation, vaccination, cat feeding stations, rehoming, as well as education, not disrupting the existing cat colonies and subjecting the animals to stress, separation from owners and caretakers, shifting problems to elsewhere for others to have to deal with….and potential extermination.
Sterilising the cats is something we, as locals and with the help of kind-hearted tourists, have taken upon ourselves to try to address without enough official support. This has been no easy task considering the lack of an vet clinic on the island to sterilise them. Instead, cats have had to be personally es**rted to Paleochora via boat to be sterilised, which is not possible to do in a one day round-trip.
The one sterilisation event that took place during my time on the island was in March 2022, and resulted in a number of dead cats and botched operations requiring further treatment, for what should be a common and simple procedure. These were visiting vets from EDKE, one of which was the mayor's son.
Our written complaint to EDKE and calls for improvements in standards were left unaddressed. Instead of listening to feedback and improving on service (as any reputable organisation would surely do, particularly when it comes to the welfare of living creatures), the vets suddenly cancelled their visit in 2023 year after concerns were raised about proper sterile procedure.
No resolution, or consultation with us, as to how to properly tackle the issue of the cat population has taken place since, nor how to improve the surgical standards to ensure maximum efficacy and compassion. That same year, we also received reports of cats succumbing to poisoning.
And now, with this newly-announced cat clearance programme, there's been no time allocated for other potential measures, nor options for us to adopt the cats officially and have them chipped and sterilised, or rehomed if that is what is needed, to protect them in Gavdos or elsewhere, ignoring the residents' voices entirely.
Aside from taking care of the population by feeding them and attending to medical problems, many of us have cats as pets who live with us full-time. I'm sure many of you can imagine the horror of being faced with the prospect of suddenly having your pet removed, and perhaps murdered.
Gavdos Bird Observatoryy: We would like you to answer where you have taken our cats - contact name, organisation and location, numbers of cats taken and dates.
As the cats' caretakers, we want to verify their welfare under Greek Law for Companion Animals:https://www.animalactiongreece.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Companion-Animal-Law-2021-ENGLISH.pdf (for Greek, see here:https://www.animalactiongreece.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Companion-Animal-Law-2021-GREEK.pdf )
Additionally, under what jurisdiction have Companion Animals been removed from the island?
Many have approached members of your organisation and tried to get answers. I'm told that you have not been forthcoming or transparent with that information, and have instead suddenly packed up your things 15 days earlier than scheduled and left the island. I understand this is a first, despite paid accommodation being available to you.
We await your response.
And to my friends, please help us - SHARE and spread the word to raise awareness. You can adopt a cat, donate food, medicine or time, contact animal protection organisations and Like and Follow the Gavdos Cats page. Please message me direct since time if you would like to be involved in any way.
*If you are visiting Gavdos soon, or have any friends or family who are, please look out for cat traps on the island. If you see ANY ANIMAL being subjected to unnecessary fear and stress, without access to food or water, or subjected to improper handling and transport, or physical maltreatment, please take a photograph and record details*
Thank you from all of us at Gavdos Cats x
Posted under Article 11 (Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas *WITHOUT INTERFERENCE BY PUBLIC AUTHORITY* and regardless of frontiers.)
