ANIMA will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025.
This year, we had 1,600 wildlife admissions in May alone. Among them were hundreds of fledglings, dozens of tortoises, roe deer fawns, wild boar babies, fox cubs, jackals, and a deer. June looms ahead, as proportionally more animals will arrive, as is the case in all Wildlife Care Centers in the Mediterranean and Europe.
As admissions increase, so do people’s requests, which are often demands rather than simple wishes. Accordingly, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to respond to every request. We often encounter rude behavior or even threats and the truth is we do not always manage to remain calm (although we should).
Herein we would like to make clear what we can and cannot do.
- We can be open 365 days a year for at least ten hours a day.
- We can answer phone calls and reply to messages 365 days a year, from 7 a.m. to 10 or even 12 p.m. (sometimes during peak months we miss some calls if they are made simultaneously).
- We can send written instructions for incidents by email, SMS, Viber, WhatsApp and Messenger, but not in response to comments/questions on Facebook about cases unrelated to a post.
- We can pick up animals sent by citizens every day from provincial areas of Greece from ports, intercity bus stations, and sometimes airports.
- In special cases, when it comes to a difficult animal (fox, badger, jackal) and it is located in an area where we have volunteers, we can collect it if necessary.
- If you have seen a snake in the area, we will patiently guide you in identifying it so that you do not feel you are in danger. If it is a viper and we have an experienced partner near you, it is one of the few cases where we will pick it up.
- We can provide complete care for all the animals we take in, which includes, in addition to basic medical care, X-rays, surgery, laboratory tests and rehabilitation training for those animals that need it.
- We have a specialized veterinarian available 24 hours a day.
- We forward citizen complaints to the appropriate authorities or handle cases related to wildlife protection, such as incidents involving stork nests etc.
What we cannot do!
- We cannot come to your home to pick up the animal you have found.
- We certainly cannot enter your home to catch an animal that is on your balcony or in your yard, or in someone else’s home, garden, or field, for safety reasons, among other things. However, we offer alternatives, such as delivery by taxi if you can cover the costs, or the nearest locations in your area where you can take the animal you have found to one of our partners.
- We do not capture wild animals to remove them from urban areas, as in most cases there is no reason to do so, or the animals are fully integrated into the urban fauna. If the animals are potentially dangerous, e.g. wild boars, you can call the forestry department or the fire department.
- We cannot set up an operation to catch a peacock or a muscovy duck wandering around your neighborhood. These are not wild animals and the municipalities should take care of them. However, if you find such a bird with injuries, we can take care of it.
- We cannot engage in endless telephone conversations from April to August. We apologize, but we do not have the time because we receive hundreds of calls and must respond to all of them.
We are not gods. We cannot save all these creatures in need. What we try to do is to save whatever can be saved from wildlife and, through this, express society’s collective concern and love for the wild fauna. We work beyond our limits and try to be consistent, serious but not solemn, understanding, patient and scientifically oriented. Most of the time, we succeed.
And finally: We cannot accomplish all this without you. Without you collecting the helpless animals and bringing or sending them to the First Aid Station, without you volunteering your time washing cages and bowls for endless hours, without you who bring us animal food and medicine, without the support of the society and its institutions.