About Animals

About Animals

IMPORTANT NOTICE! We have invested a large amount of care and money over several years in setting up our feeding stations. We have designed and financed the cat hutches and placed them in locations with permission from the property owners. This is how they work: 

Miki, a very special kitten, tells the heartwarming story of how he found his ideal family.

What to do if your pet ingests a poisonous substance, or if you come across dead animals and suspect poisoning as the cause.

A forlorn stray cat had the good luck to fall on all four paws at the Petar Hektorović Elementary School in Stari Grad.

A little dog wandering around the centre of Jelsa, lost, bewildered and frightened, had no way of knowing how her luck was about to turn.

The feast day of St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated on October 4th each year, which is also World Animal Day.

Thanks to Jelsa Mayor Nikša Peronja, Jelsa's stray cats have been given a new chance to survive and thrive in peace.

Eco Hvar is sometimes criticized for doing too little - or even nothing - to help the island's innumerable needy cats and kittens. In fact there are lots of residents around the island, locals and incomers, who consistently do their utmost to help.

Lost or abandoned? It's all too easy for a dog to get lost, often much harder to find it.

We are delighted to see our cat feeders being put to good use! The initiative is developing slowly but surely.

Lucky Luki revels joyfully in his explorations of Hvar's boundless beauties. The Galešnik fortress in the hill to the south above Jelsa is one of his regular haunts.

Luki and his human minder Ivica are keeping the old footpaths viable: Jelsa's historic Tor is one of their favourite destinations.

There's nothing Luki likes better than exploring the lesser known areas of Hvar Island. The eastern region is largely overlooked and (mercifully) underdeveloped, so it is perfect territory for Luki and his friends.

Luki and his two-legged pet parent Ivica love their native land deeply and unreservedly.

August 16th is the feast of St. Rocco, the patron saint of dogs.

Dog owners be warned! In Dalmatia's hot summers, dog paws may need protecting.

Sometime in early November 2018, a bitch was dumped by the roadside above Jelsa, not far from the Medical Services Clinic, with her five puppies.

Donkeys have served humankind since time immemorial. The donkey is a symbol of Dalmatia.

Vrisnik is a village which boasts many animals. Goats are among the most prized.

Dogs in a loving home become friends with their owners. They say that anyone who doesn't like animals doesn't like humans either.

Cats and music both give pleasure to many. Combine the two...pure joy for cat and music lovers!

This is the story of a pony who has captivated the hearts of all around him in the quiet inland village of Svirče on Hvar. He is a walking symbol of unconditional love!

The hunting season on Hvar lasts from October to January, the busy season for hunting dogs.

 

On a lovely sunny March day, a lucky puppy visited Jelsa for a coffee break with her new owners.

Luck intervened when a puppy was left to its fate on wasteland near Split on a hot day in July.

Not all dogs live the life of Riley in Dalmatia, but some are luckier than others. Here Rocky tells his story.

Bobi roamed free in Jelsa for several years. His sudden death carries a warning.

The sufferings of Hvar's cats blight an otherwise happy visit to Hvar.

Nola, a type of Siberian husky, had an unpromising start to her young life.

Dona finds a good home, three years on.

Beautiful, intelligent, good-natured and lively, Negra will bring joy to the right owner.

From Skittish Stari Grad Street Dog to Alpha Canine Queen of Dol, Sveta Ana. Evening Lategano of the Suncrokret Body and Soul Retreat in Dol tells the story of Maza's rescue.

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Eco Environment News feeds

  • Fifteen years after a tsunami caused the Fukushima nuclear accident, only bears, raccoons and boar are seen on the streets. But the authorities and some locals want people to move back

    Norio Kimura pauses to gaze through the dirt-flecked window of Kumamachi primary school in Fukushima. Inside, there are still textbooks lying on the desks, pencil cases are strewn across the floor; empty bento boxes that were never taken home.

    Along the corridor, shoes line the route the children took when they fled, some still in their indoor plimsolls, as their town was rocked by a magnitude-9 earthquake on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 which went on to cause the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chornobyl.

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  • Scientists expect 41% of the projected global population to face the extremes, with ‘no part of the world’ immune

    The number of people living with extreme heat will more than double by 2050 if global heating reaches 2C, according to a new study that shows how the energy demands for air conditioners and heating systems are expected to change across the world.

    No region will escape the impact, say the authors. Although the tropics and southern hemisphere will be worst affected by rising heat, the countries in the north will also find it difficult to adapt because their built environments are primarily designed to deal with a cooler climate.

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  • Initiatives such as London’s ULEZ can be a model for other cities. But even more could be done to save lives and protect us from deadly toxins in the air

    Breathwork is everywhere, whether it’s in yoga studios, corporate retreats or self-help reels. We’re told to “just breathe”. Be mindful. Lower our stress levels. Inhale. Exhale. In the yogic tradition, bringing clean air into our lungs and our body (pranayama in Sanskrit) is about purifying and detoxing, and then exhaling what we don’t need. That all sounds great if you live on a remote island or in the middle of a forest – but what if that air isn’t cleansing us, but making us sick?

    According to the World Health Organization, 99% of the global population is exposed to air-pollution levels that exceed its health-based guidelines and air pollution is now the world’s single largest environmental risk, linked to nearly 7 million premature deaths each year. This isn’t an issue of future climate collapse or one that will affect future generations. This is about today – and the damage polluted air is doing to our hearts, lungs, brains and blood vessels.

    Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

    Fit Forever: Wellness for midlife and beyond
    On Wednesday 28 January 2026, join Annie Kelly, Devi Sridhar, Joel Snape and Mariella Frostrup, as they discuss how to enjoy longer and healthier lives, with expert advice and practical tips. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

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  • Ripon City Wetlands and Welburn, North Yorkshire: First a starling ​and then a robin​ arrived like visitations​. I am truly grateful for ​them both

    I’ve heard it said that birds come to people who’ve lost someone dear. It seemed a nice thing to believe, but I never really imagined it might be true. But neither did I imagine losing my only sibling at the age of 53. Nic’s childhood nickname, Twinkle, was apt. She was the brightest, kindest person I’ve ever known, and the ferocity of the cancer that took her in barely a month just before Christmas blindsided us all.

    A few days after she slipped away, we went with friends to watch a starling murmuration. It’s something we do most years, but never before have we seen a bird tumble from the throng and crash at our feet like a feathered meteorite. I scooped her into my hat. Sometimes all a stunned bird needs to recover is a warm, safe place to rest. But it wasn’t to be, and so now that impossibly beautiful body is buried* under our damson tree. Star. Sister. Bird. Blossom. All the same interchangeable stuff.

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  • Britain among 10 countries to build 100GW grid in North Sea linking countries through subsea cables

    The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has said he wants the North Sea to become the “largest reservoir of clean energy worldwide”, as he announced plans to accelerate efforts to link up offshore wind power projects with Europe.

    The UK and nine other European countries have agreed to accelerate the rollout of offshore windfarms in the 2030s and build a power grid in the North Sea, in a landmark pact to turn the ageing oil basin into a “clean energy reservoir”.

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  • The variety and scope of entries to the global Walk of Water photography contest reflect the intimate connection between water and humanity

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  • Environmental charity to prioritise water capture and storage as it urges gardeners to prepare for ‘new normal’

    The Royal Horticultural Society has unveiled emergency plans to protect its gardens from major water shortages in the future.

    The environmental charity, which owns and operates five renowned public gardens in England, said on Saturday it will invest in more water-capture and water-management projects in 2026 after severe droughts last year.

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  • Funding cuts, conspiracy theories and ‘powder keg’ pine plantations have seen January’s forest fires tear through Chubut in southern Argentina

    Lucas Chiappe had known for a long time that the fire was coming. For decades, the environmentalist had warned that replacing native trees in the Andes mountain range with highly flammable foreign pine was a recipe for disaster.

    In early January, flames raced down the Pirque hill and edged closer to his home in the Patagonian town of Epuyén, Argentina, where he had lived since the 1970s. Thirty people with six motor pumps fought for hours, hoses stretched for kilometres, but “there was no way”.

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  • As the temperature nears 49C in the Mallee region, residents take refuge in air-conditioned rooms

    In the slanting, late-afternoon summer sun, the fields around the small Australian town of Ouyen – almost 450km north-west of Melbourne – turn the colour of honey. The edges shimmer with silver, that old cruel trick of feigning water where it hasn’t rained for weeks.

    Summer is always hot out here in the sparse, flat Mallee, but this year is shaping up to be particularly harsh. Just two weeks ago, on Thursday 8 January, Ouyen got to 47.5C. On Monday it reached 44.3C.

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  • Therapy lights, sunrise alarm clocks and infrared saunas can all help shake the winter blues as the weather drops

    As a lifelong Canadian, I’m no stranger to that familiar sinking feeling in my chest as the days get shorter, dimmer and colder. I suffer from seasonal affective disorder (Sad), which also affects about one in 20 people in the US.

    “Sad is a type of depression that happens at certain times of the year, usually in the fall and winter when there’s less sunlight,” said Dr Stefanie Mazer, a licensed psychologist and founder of the psychology practice Mindwise, Inc. Changes in sunlight can affect your body’s internal clock and levels of serotonin and melatonin, which influence mood and sleep, Mazer explained. People with Sad often feel low energy, sadness and irritability, with noticeable changes in sleeping or eating.

    For gentle wake-ups in the morning:
    Hatch Restore 3 Sunrise Alarm Clock

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