Takis Proestakis helps abandoned dogs find forever homes.
A Greek man has singlehandedly saved about 500 dogs who were abandoned on the streets and in dumps on the Greek Island Crete. He gave up his career to care for these animals because he knows every dog needs a home.
Takis Proestakis traces the abandonment of many of the dogs to the financial crisis in Greece, according to inspiremore.com, which noted that many people cannot afford their pets’ food or vet bills. He also rescues “dogs that have been brutally beaten, starved and mistreated by their owners before being left to die,” the website reported.
Proestakis discovered the dogs one day several years ago when he visited a garbage dump. He “was stunned to discover dozens of dogs there, many on the verge of starvation and suffering from horrific injuries,” according to the story. He found so many dogs when he visited the dump each day that he bought a plot of land in an olive grove and opened Taki’s Shelter. inspiremore.com said he “lives there, too, in a shipping container that he’s converted into both a home and separate respite area for the most vulnerable dogs.”
On the Brink of Closure
Because he is so devoted to the dogs, the story said, Proestakis sold most of his belongings. However, he struggled to pay the bills and was almost forced to close. Fortunately, a reporter “wrote a feature story, and word about how much he’d already sacrificed started spreading,”according to the website. Donations came in from around the world.
According to the story, Proestakis works long hours, but “the hours he keeps aren’t all that different from the nightclub he once owned.” He told the website that he starts work at 8 a.m., sleeps from 2-6 p.m., when the dogs are sleeping, and begins feeding the animals at 6 p.m.
“So the party starts at six o’clock,” he said in the story. “They play, they are doing like crazy, they are party animals. When the sun comes up, they relax. They sleep all day and party all night!”
“Once the dogs have been rehabilitated and given clean bills of health,” inspiremore.com said, “they’re put up for adoption.”
Proestakis sees his helping the dogs as a mission, “not a job. This is a reason to live,” he told the website, “My dogs, who are in the shelter, they have a good life, but a home is a home. Every dog needs a home.”
To see pictures of animals he has rescued, click here. Want to watch a video of Proestakis talking about his life-saving mission? Click here to visit his wonderful home for dogs.
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