Greek island but without the strays

[TreatTreat]

I'd love to visit a Greek island. Is there one without any stray animals in the main resorts? It'd really upset me seeing them.

No one said feeding a stray cat for a week fixes anything.

Your “logic” boils down to: If I can’t save them all, I won’t help at all. That’s not reasoned thinking, it’s cowardice.
You avoid places with suffering animals not out of compassion, but because their existence inconveniences you. Those ‘stray-free’ resorts aren’t stray-free at all. They just hide the cruelty better, usually by killing the problem.

You probably haven’t improved the life of a single living being and you’re proud of that because it keeps your conscience clear.
It’s a good thing the whole world isn’t like you. Otherwise, everything vulnerable would suffer in silence just so you could enjoy your cocktail in peace.

Zakynthos/Zante has several cat/dog rescue places. Our guide, who had lived there for many years, was involved with one.

@TreatTreat I'm with you. I found this thread because I too am looking for a cat free island not because I dislike cats, but because I love cats. Sure there is the odd "well cared for hotel cat that everyone loves" but the reality is that many thousands more live in misery, dehydrated, starving, injured, mistreated, thrown into bins, hit over the head with shovels, and poisoned to death at the end of the season. These are facts. The Greek islands are the worst, I really can't bear to visit them anymore. The charities cannot keep up with the misery and I can't bear to go on holiday and see the poor little blighters.

people really need to look into this before thinking its fabulous to have lots of cats on holiday. the majority of these cats are NOT looked after or treated when sick and die. fyi a female cat can have kittens as early as 16 weeks old and it can kill them. yes some people try to look after these cats in these places but its a drop in the ocean and most of them are extremely unlucky and die young. usually of illness/abuse/traffic. so its really not what makes a holiday as far as i'm concerned!!! probably these same people still go to sea world and other marine parks because its "cute"

I haven’t read the whole thread.

I have been to Greece numerous times and seen many many cats. Almost without exception they are young and healthy looking (albeit on the thin side).

I expect this is because any cat with a health problem wouldn’t last long. Also many of them probably don’t make it through the winter. This is obviously very very sad and it would be much better if there weren’t so many strays.

However, purely from the OP’s holiday enjoyment perspective, OP is unlikely to see many in the way of injured or sick looking cats. Unless she visits a rescue.

Truly shocked at the ignorance on this thread. It is not ‘lovely’ to see dozens of stray cats on holiday. For the most part, these poor animals are born into a life of suffering and starvation. They will often be fed by tourists during the summer, and then during the winter, many will die of starvation, or get killed or poisoned by locals who do not want cats near their resorts or restaurants. I saw many starving cats on a recent trip to a Greek island, some of which were in appalling condition.

If you really want to help, I would suggest donating to a charity who will trap and neuter e.g.

https://www.animalactiongreece.org/transforming-the-lives-of-greeces-stray-cats/

https://greekcats.org.uk/about-us/

Wildcats on the verge of extinction because humans have destroyed their habitat, so how can they possibly occupy the ‘same niche’? The worst animal suffering is usually directly caused by humans, so I think that we have a responsibility to help.

Why can’t you compare animals to humans? Humans ARE animals. Do you think that other species don’t feel the same pain when they are sick or starving, just because they don’t speak our language?

What a weird comment. I really don’t understand people with attitudes like this.

I am in Greece at the moment and it’s heartbreaking to see so many cats who are terrified of people, starving and in shocking condition. Thank you for highlighting this charity. Some of the staff at our hotel are feeding a young cat who trusts a couple of the staff but terrified if I approach it. I wonder what will happen to those cats when the tourist season ends and the cafes shut. Their food source is gone. I gave one some water . The poor thing was desperately thirsty. I just watched a Greek customer try to kick it away.

Lots of places I’ve been there have been cats - the Algarve (where I saved a couple of thin strays from getting pushed into the harbour by a group of pissed up English blokes).. Amsterdam (where they sleep on bars).. Krakow in the cat cafe & there’s even a small cat ‘museum’.. Greek islands (such as Crete, Mykonos & Kefalonia) where stray cats are everywhere, and also lots of feral cat colonies in Lanzarote. I think there were stray cats in Ibiza too, yes the local old ladies fed them.

In Lanzarote one that belonged to the complex got in through the upstairs balcony door & landed on my bed at 3am. That was a bit of a shock.
I do feed them & some seem ok as feral cats, but many seem to just want affection, more food & vet care.
The guiltiest I’ve felt was about a friendly skinny calico kitten that latched onto me outside a supermarket in Crete… I fed it some meat and cheese but had to leave it behind. I already had a poorly cat at home who hated other cats and didn’t have the means or knowledge to rescue a cat abroad anyway.

My friend used to work in Boscombe near Bournemouth where there is a feral cat colony outside her old restaurant. She grew to like one of the fluffy cats and contemplated bringing it to her flat but sadly it seemed happier as a feral cat; it also scratched her every time she fussed it!

Some friendly stray cats from Kefalonia & Lanzarote

in my experience the cats in Greece are more like everyone’s pets rather than strays. Locals feed them, holiday makers feed them. They’re generally pretty friendly and fairly clean. There are a lot of charities and schemes to treat them if sick or injured and to neuter them.

we always end up with pet cats for the week when we go to Greece! It’s part of the appeal.

Every cat I saw on a recent trip to Crete was TNR. I didn’t see one without an ear notch.

there are feeding stations set up throughout with instructions on what to feed them. The majority looked healthy, and clearly had homes, hotels or restaurants they’d attached themselves to.

there were quite a few elderly cats, and we saw one white cat with an ear tumour, but you post on the FB page or phone the number and someone will trap and take it to a vet.

we saw no kittens at all, so the TNR is clearly working.

I agree. This is the island “pet” at our resort. Before and after being rescued by The Cats Pyjamas charity in Crete. He was in horrific shape like most of the other stray cats we saw there.

I am on holiday in Greece at the moment. Lots of terrified, injured and starving cats. Many of the restaurants feed them but wha happens when the tourists are gone? They are fed on scraps and leftovers. When all the hotels shut and the restaurants too, it is cold and they have no food sources apart from what they can catch. There are frequent fights too.