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Chris Lock | all galleries >> Greece >> The Islands > The Stray Cats of Rhodes
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26-JUL-2006

The Stray Cats of Rhodes

There are so many strays in Greece. I watched as one good samaritan fed these cats. She would shake the box of dry cat food and the cats would come running from all over. How many cats can you count?

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Guest 24-Aug-2015 16:49
We were in Rhodes and found an emaciated little male cat down near the harbour. We could not bear to leave him so we found a vet and we brought him back to our home 3 weeks later in England. He is absolutely gorgeous and we called him Skinny.
larisa 26-Jul-2012 19:47
why ol world stend up for protection animals in ukraine/ and no body waried about rhodos
Eileen Grant 28-Jun-2012 19:56
We have 2 cats at home & my husband & I found it upsetting & disgraceful to see the vast numbers of stray cats in Rhodes. We hardly saw any that were in good condition, they were malnourished, dirty and injured. We were eating in a restaurant one evening when a large white cat arrived under our table, his front leg was hanging limply & was obviously broken, you're not encouraged to feed them but you'd have to have a heart of stone to see this badly injured cat looking up expecting a morsel. We gave him fish & meat from our plates but we couldn't eat another bite. Its a real fight for survival. We counted 27 cats & kittens in one small barren area in the middle of the busy strip in Pefkos, fighting over the smallest morsel. We visited Rhodes & there was a dead cat lying on a wall. Rhodes is beautiful but we will never visit again as we find it difficult to understand why no one has done anything about this & we've heard stories that the cats are poisoned once the tourist season is over. Whether this is true or not, the situation with the stray cats in Rhodes is disgraceful & shame on them.
Guest 28-Aug-2011 16:14
Just returned from a week at Lothiarika Beach near Pefkos. The amount of cats there was quite overwhelming. Every day I bought tins of food and biscuits and fed as many as I could, as well as leaving out water. There were so many wee kittens and they all looked so thin. We did bump into a kind Greek lady who came every evening in her car with lots of food for the cats. There were a lot of sorry sights to see and many who badly needed medical treatment. I was so sad to leave as everyday the cats by our hotel came regularly and stared up at our balcony waiting for food. So sad to leave knowing they will not be fed and the bowls will stay empty. Heartbreaking.
Guest 21-Sep-2009 20:29
I found it such a wrench to come home from our holiday in a little town in Rhodes. I cannot express how heart wrenching it was to leave the little familu of mum and her 4 kittens behind. I just hope they had enough food given to them after we had left. I read today an article written by Simon Parke for the Daily Mail which made me feel sick beyond belief. He reported how the locals poisoned the cats once the tourist season was over as a way of control. I cannot live with this thought and I am thinking of setting up some sort of charity in order to try to sort this out once and for all. It would help me to have some feedgack iniially and backing so please let me know if you can support me at all.
Laura Sambrooks 05-Sep-2009 16:25
I came back from Rhodes last week and we were also feeding the strays. One little kitten had a bad eye infection which seems to be getting better, but he needs medicine. Another cat last year was the thinnest I've ever seen and was running out and literally begging the people who went past for food, it was heart breaking to see.
Joan 02-Jun-2009 07:43
We have just returned from a holiday in Pefkos and were befriended by a lovely young female cat who we fed for the time we were there. I agree that the sight of the worst off cats is heart-breaking. It is good to know that other people are doing their bit to help.
Lynn Barnfather 31-May-2009 16:44
For anyone who is a cat lover, please note that there is an animal charity on Rhodes called Noah's Ark Animal Welfare. For 6 euros per month you can sponser a 'cat feeding station' at various points on the island (including one in Pefkos). Volunteers then feed the stray cats at these feeding stations all the way through the winter, when the tourists have gone home. Please can I implore all cat lovers who really care about the plight of these cats to join this scheme if you can afford to do so, at www.noahsarkrhodes.com. Thank you so much.
GeneWard27-Mar-2009 03:17
an excellent shot, well composed. Actually, these cats look pretty good considering that they are strays.
Patricia bowers 26-Oct-2007 14:01
We also have just returned from Rhodes Town. The site of all the colony down by the
Harbour of Cats young and old living in the rocks in so heart Wrenching. Please, someone
I hope will care for them in the winter months when the tourist cant help them. A sweet
female played with a piece of silver paper I rolled for her and when she stood, underneath her sat a kitten so young and shivering I cannot think that it will survive.
I will return to Rhodes next Summer, just to open a tin of food for these strays. God help them.
Kathy 07-Jun-2007 15:38
We have just returned from Pfkos in Rhodes and near us there was a cat with two kittens and from day one until we left two weeks later I fed her. She was very friendly and a very good mum I hope that other people feed her now we have returned home. I am sure they will because it was a complex and people were leaving her food. There were however lots of cats all over the resort. I found this worrying as I have two very well cared for cats at home. What becomes of them when the tourists have gone I wonder?
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