“The people, they think I’m crazy. But for me, when I see these dogs suffer from pain, they have a soul...so I want to help them. It makes me feel so good.”
One man in Greece has become something of an angel of mercy to the local dog population after a financial crisis that rocked the country forced people to abandon pets they could no longer afford to keep.
Theoklitos Proestakis, also known as Takis, was once a disc jockey, but he gave up his life’s profession to start an animal shelter, dubbed “Takis Shelter” after his moniker, to help the abandoned local dogs.
To date, Takis has rescued more than 200 dogs [now 500] from various locations. Just to paint a picture of his devotion to the dogs, he tries to find at least one rejected dog a day and does everything to care for them on his own.
His service to the dogs has also not come without a great financial cost to himself. Reportedly, Takis was forced to sell his car and his caravan to help
support the dogs. Working seven days a week, he also uses social media to help find proper, loving homes for the dogs.
According to Hero Viral, the shelter, which is as big as 5,200 square meters [now 33,000], costs over €2,275 in monthly expenses [now over €6,000], which includes food and veterinary costs. 98% of donations come from outside the country, as Greek officials are reportedly either unwilling or unable to help finance the shelter.
Yet recent online fundraising has earned Takis has a lot of supporters. When he developed a campaign on YouTube to promote the shelter, he earned $26,505, far exceeding his goal of $1,705.
June 2017