The Ark

Mrs. Steen is the president of an organization on Corfu called “The Ark.” This is an animal welfare charity that independently does a number of things to remedy the animal control issues on the island. It spays and neuters stray animals, provides healthcare to sick and poisoned animals, rescued puppies and kittens that are discarded in dustbins (a common phenomenon), re-homes animals in Greece and abroad, and developing education programs to raise awareness of animal respect in schools. However, The Ark doesn’t have a shelter of its own, and it has limited means to do these things since many people on the island do not know or care about it.

I’m telling you about The Ark so that there can be a peak of optimism in the main point of this blog post, which is to tell you that Mrs. Steen has decided to close down the dog rescue portion of The Silva Project. This did not come as a surprise to many of the long-term volunteers because they have seen first-hand the struggle that The Silva Project has had in maintaining the dogs and finding homes for them. For one, the shelter is located on a plot of land that Sylvia owns but has not yet been approved to build on. Every construction site must first be scoured by an archaeologist to make sure that there are no ruins on the site. Therefore, the shelter in and of itself is illegally set up on the land, and therefore cannot be advertised to the fullest extent. Secondly, many of the dogs escape the enclosures and kill nearby sheep and goats, which has resulted in costly replacements, stronger fences, and many times, euthanizing the dog due to their aggressive tendencies. Thirdly, very few people adopt the animals and the no-kill policy that this shelter has tried to uphold makes little room for new animals to be rescued and sheltered.

By September or October of this year, the dog shelter will be shut down and the remaining animals there will be euthanized. After this, the only form of animal control for all of the stray animals on the island will be The Ark. It is a blessing that Sylvia is also president of this organization so that she can still have a hand in rescuing and nursing stray animals back to health, but it will also be heartbreaking for her to have to close the shelter that was so long a glimmer of hope for providing some strays with a temporary home.

The idea of a venue of The Silva Project having to close its doors makes me sad—sad for the dogs who will be killed, and sad for Sylvia and how helpless she must feel—especially in the light of the conflicts that have arisen between she and her brother that threaten to shut down the project altogether. She is a strong woman and I believe in the necessity and strength of this organization, but as Brian said, “Sometimes standing in a circle and singing Kumbaya won’t make a difference”—sometimes willpower and moral fortitude is not as palpable as lawful and logistical conflicts.

So, the only method that animals can be helped on the island is through The Ark, and I think that anyone who has a special place in their hearts for animals and animal rights should make a donation to this special organization or adopt one of the animals if there is room in their home. To see the website for this organization, click here. Here, you can learn about all of the ways to help The Ark continue to treat and give loving homes to stray animals. I hope that you will at least look at the website and become aware that this issue is worldwide and, as in the case of Corfu, is in very dire need of being addressed.