In Danish Friends of Animals we are all volunteers who are committed to helping animals in need. Our starting point was the Greek Island of Skiathos which has a shelter that we decided we had to help in 2001. One Scottish woman – Helen Bozas- was struggling to help the many stray dogs and cats. The common methods of getting rid of these unwanted animals included (and still include) poisoning, feeding them splinters of glass, pushing them into a ditch or dumping them at Helen’s dogshelter. We found that the best way we could help her was by sending a vet to neuter the animals and try to find good homes for the dogs that seeemed fit to go into a family. We started a society and soon gained enough financial support from our members to be able to continue this work which means that hundreds of dogs and cats are neutered every year and find good homes here in Denmark.

Sending out vets to neuter stray animals remains one of the most important parts of our work. We wish to prevent new unwanted kittens and puppies from being born into lives of suffering and starvation. Over the years we have sent vets to Skiathos, Halkidiki, Samos, Athens, Portugal and we are presently planning a vet trip to Bosnia. But we also send money for sterilizations by local vets – fx. In Uganda where we have also hired a local animal welfare representative that teaches people how to treat animals with respect.

Furthermore we help the shelters by donating food, medicine, transport, legal aid, and maintenance of the kennels.

We support initiatives that aim at informing people of the needs of animals. For example showing children how to treat their animals, and stressing the importance of having their pets sterilized as this is necessary to change the number of strays in the long term.

A key word in this work has turned out to be perseverance. The changes we see are slow, but they are there. We are not always welcomed by everyone in the places where we try to help the strays. In Greece, DFA – and societies like ours - have been accused of taking Greek dogs and using them for experiments or for their fur! Allegations which we can easily refute by the hundreds of photos of happy Greek dogs or cats in their loving homes (see ‘Happy Endings’) and by our annual walk for Greek dogs in Copenhagen. But it goes to show that the battle is a long one which sometimes requires using funds on attorneys.

If would like to join us, hear more, or donate please don’t hesitate to contact us on info@dfas.dk