paddy

Paddy

Paddy was abandoned in Katelios at the beginning of the season in 2010, very skinny and hungry. He spent weeks following tourists around, desperate for affection and trying hard to attach himself to a new owner.

I ended up taking him home, planning to foster him until he could be rehomed in Germany. Unfortunately, when I took him to be neutered, a routine bloodtest revealed that he had leishmania*, which makes rehoming difficult, so I decided to keep him.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. Paddy is a lovely dog but I'd bitten off more than I could chew. With two other dogs and 16 cats the extra dog was just too much for me to handle. Paddy was an extremely bright, energetic, 32 kilo 2 year old who needed someone with a lot of time and energy to spend with him. He also loved to be outdoors and started escaping at every opportunity, thinking it was great fun to go chicken hunting. Not the way to guarantee a long life on the island.

A new home had to be found (preferably away from free-roaming chickens) and thankfully somebody, somewhere was waving a magic wand. After months on pills, a more comprehensive blood test showed that Paddy was now officially leishmania free. Paddy had become a normal healthy dog who no longer needed medication.

A place was found for him in kennels to keep him safe until he could be rehomed and in September 2011 he finally made it to his new home in the UK. He is in an ideal environment and all his needs are now addressed. He has plenty of love, exercise and training by dedicated people who know what they're doing. He also has the company of 4 other Kefalonian rescue dogs.

He settled in immediately, loves the family, gets on well with the other dogs and is enjoying lots of long walks in the fields and on the beach. He's even behaving himself and leaving the wildlife alone.

His 'rescue' was made possible by KATs who allowed me to create a 'Paddy Fund' at the bar over the Summer of 2011. All money raised for KATs in Aliti's Bar was diverted into the Paddy Fund until his rehoming costs were met. Fortunately his rehoming costs were much lower than feared and customers were extremely generous. So, after paying his way, there was still a very tidy €1,350 left over to go to the KATs neutering fund.

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* Leishmania is something animals get when they're bitten by a sandfly carrying the disease. These sandflies are only in certain parts of the world and you can only get it from being bitten by a sandfly. It's not infectious so a dog with leishmania can't pass it on to other animals or humans.

The condition is life-threatening if allowed to progress but it can be treated if caught in time.

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