A puppy abandoned at a supermarket on the island of Crete, Greece has gotten her happy ending and now lives with lots of furry siblings. It’s all thanks to one kind man who single-handedly runs his own rescue shelter on the island and helped to find this pup’s forever home.
The little white puppy was left in a cardboard box outside a supermarket in Greece, crying, scared and alone. It was clear she had come from a home where she was well fed and looked after, but for whatever reason, her owners gave her up and abandoned her.
Supermarket shoppers seemed to ignore her and the pup was helpless until Takis, a local rescue shelter owner, came along and picked her up. You can watch the video below.
“The situation in Greece is very difficult concerning animals,” writes a representative for Takis Shelter on their Facebook page. “The economic crisis caused a lot of people to abandon their dogs on the streets and because Greeks did not castrate their pets, these dogs multiplied and now there are thousands of stray dogs and cats in Greece and thousands more are being born every day.”
Takis wasn’t always in the rescue business. One day, he passed his local rubbish tip and saw a stray dog with a broken leg and started taking care of it. Soon, this escalated and Takis was taking care of around 40 stray animals. He was receiving threats from locals for helping the strays and decided to buy a piece of land and build Takis Shelter in 2013. The shelter now runs entirely off donations and still with no support from the government.
“Most of them wander the streets, malnourished in terrible conditions and the government does nothing. So the burden falls on Greek people to help. Many help but many look away and do not care.”
Takis has dedicated his life and finances to helping the stray population and now looks after more than 400 animals at his shelter in Ierapetra, Crete. He's built quite the social media following and tourists have even been to visit his shelter to witness the important work he's been doing and even adopt a furry friend.
You can follow Takis Shelter and donate on Facebook and Instagram: @takisshelter.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/The Dodo
Laura Sanders