Stray dog in Hvar Town

Published in Forum items
Hello I was staying in Hvar Town for 5 days last week in June 14 and we tried our best to care for the kittens, cats we have seen as they were so very skinny. What is keeping me awake at night back in the UK is the stray small black dog with no collar.
He has fairly long hair matted hair and is mainly black but bits of white adorable manners. He sleeps on the steps of the house that is being renovated by the school near House Gordana on the way into town all day and night. He sleeps with the stray cats at night and never barks unlike the other dog that looks like him but appears to have a home up near the house above where the stray dog sleeps. Other dogs were roaming but had collars so may have homes. The dog we worry about is so kind to the cats as they cuddle up to him/her at night. This dog would be so loyal and all he/she wants is love and this is sad. We live in the uk and have recently taken in a starving stray cat that had been abused and we are told a dog used to hurt her also so we could not bring the hvar stray dog back unfortunately. Please can you possibly go and see that it does not starve to death and where do they get water which they need daily. Sorry to write to you but it broke my heart as a tourist to leave this dog behind as love was all they want. I read about the work you do on my return home
J. (visitor from the UK) e-mail, June 9th 2014 (full name supplied)
As promised, I have now made inquiries about the stray dog in Hvar Town. It seems it does have an owner - of sorts. It has apparently been wandering around, as you saw it, for a year or two. The owner is a man who, with the best intentions, tries to keep a lot of dogs, but sadly does not have the money or facilities to look after them properly. As he cannot afford to have the females spayed, they have puppies, and the one you saw is apparently one such extra. He does get fed, as people give him scraps, and some leave water out for him (and for other stray animals). The tragedy is, at the moment we can offer little alternative that would be better for the dog. The official dogs' home, which has the licence to round up strays in the whole Split-Dalmatian County, is in Šibenik on the mainland. They only keep the dogs for 60 days in any case, which we feel is not a satisfactory chance. That is why we have formed the project to set up a dogs' home on Hvar, with a 'no-kill' policy, which we hope will alleviate these problems. It is a big project, and will take some time to bring to fruition, but we are working on it with solid backing from our Mayor, as it is obviously much needed.
Thank you very much for your concern, and we are extremely sorry that you were so affected emotionally by the stray dog and cats. It is tough for them, but I hope you can take some comfort from the fact that there are quite a few people doing their best to create a better life for them in the future. And you helped by giving them some love and happiness while you were here, which in itself means a lot.
Eco Hvar, June 14th 2014
I cannot thank you enough for looking into this for me and you are like me when I promise I always deliver so THANK YOU :-)
I can sleep easier knowing that the lovely little dog is at least not starving and getting no love. Its nice that the man tries his best to keep the dogs but sad he cannot afford total care. This is normal even in the UK. But at least in UK those that cannot afford or on low income can get help from animal charities to get spaying done to keep numbers low of strays. eg RSPCA. I could do very little whilst I was in Hvar and hope that other tourists help feed and water the strays because it breaks my heart to see hungry animals who just want to be loved. |t's a tough stance to kill strays after 60 days.
The work you are trying to do is amazing ..I will follow your work on the internet and hope that the shelter is built soon as the work you are doing is so very vital.  I was moved by the stray cats and dogs although they were so well behaved and not lots of them. They just touched my heart. …I am so moved by your efforts to contact me after I emailed you and wish you every success in the future with your mission to help the dogs. 
J., June 14th 2014 

 

Related items

More in this category: Stray cat in Hvar Town »
You are here: Home forum items Stray dog in Hvar Town

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Exclusive: UAE using site to ‘control narrative’ amid criticism of oil boss leading climate summit, say critics

    The Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, has been accused of attempting to “greenwash” his image after it emerged that members of his team had edited Wikipedia pages that highlighted his role as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

    Work by Al Jaber’s team on his and the climate summit’s Wikipedia entries include adding a quote from an editorial that said Al Jaber – the United Arab Emirates minister for industry and advanced technology – was “precisely the kind of ally the climate movement needs”. They also suggested that editors remove reference to a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline deal he signed in 2019, the Centre for Climate Reporting and the Guardian can reveal.

    Continue reading...

  • Rich nations should pay for biodiversity loss, which disproportionately affects poor countries, say scientists

    Wealthy countries should pay for the loss and damage they cause to nature in poorer countries in the same way as for climate impacts, researchers have argued.

    At the Cop27 climate talks in November, world leaders agreed to a dedicated “loss and damage” fund providing financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster. More developed countries, which are largely responsible for driving climate breakdown, are to pay compensation to poorer nations, which are typically more vulnerable to its impacts.

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: England, Scotland and Wales survey reports similar response to people with gas boilers

    More than 80% of households that have replaced their gas boilers with an electric heat pump are satisfied with their new heating system, according to the first major survey of heat pump users.

    Those who use heat pumps to warm their homes reported broadly similar levels of satisfaction to those with gas boilers, the survey commissioned by the innovation charity Nesta found.

    Continue reading...

  • Sorrento, Italy: A hornet scoots through thistley plumes and wall-lizards defy gravity. Behind it all, Vesuvius looks ready to blow

    Watching Vesuvius, waiting for a sign. Seen from the rooftops and cliffs of the Amalfi coast, the most active volcano on the European mainland is suspiciously silent in silver light behind clouds. We’re in Sorrento for our granddaughter’s wedding, a momentous event for us. But every now and then, a space opens into the place itself, into its poppy-punctuated story of olive groves and the psychedelic zest of Sfusato d’Amalfi lemon orchards between sheer cliffs and the sea.

    Watching a storm – during the wettest, weirdest May here for over 20 years – haul over the mountains as if in pursuit of some adversary, the focus switches to nearby lives and a random question: could some tiny ripple in the ecology of moments spark Vesuvius’ cataclysmic potential? For here are a few such unstill lives: a hornet, Vespa crabro, the predatory motor scooter of wasps, hunts through thistley plumes over a wall where gravity-defying Italian wall-lizards, Podarcis siculus,flick in and out of question marks.

    Continue reading...

  • Low demand combined with sunny conditions and meltwater lifts hydro and solar production

    Over the last week, several European countries had power prices in the wholesale energy market dip into negative values during daylight hours. The decline in prices was mostly driven by the abundance of available energy generated by renewable sources, combined with the relatively low demand for energy for heating or cooling, caused by normal springtime temperatures.

    Negative prices often occur when there is an excess supply of electricity in the market. This can happen when renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or hydro produce a large quantity of electricity that exceeds demand and cannot be stored for later use. In such cases, producers may offer negative prices to incentivise wholesale consumers to take the surplus electricity off the grid and avoid overloading the system. This situation occurred due to an area of high pressure dominating across much of central and north-west Europe, providing lots of solar power generation across the area. Meanwhile, Finland experienced an oversupply of hydroelectric power resulting from excessive springtime meltwater, which in turn led to negative prices here as well.

    Continue reading...

  • A study is under way in the water-scarce region to see if commodity farmers can use the regenerative technique of cover cropping as a way to adapt to rapidly changing weather conditions

    In one of the toughest growing regions in the US, commercial farmers like Frank Machac are experimenting with a style of ancient agriculture more known for soil health than profit.

    They are perhaps unlikely budding agroecologists. “My number one concern is yield, I’m not worrying about climate change,” said Machac, 60, a ruddy-faced straight talker with 30 years’ farming experience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).

    Continue reading...

  • No one has yet been able to sail an autonomous boat across the Atlantic, but a young couple in Wales hope their craft will revolutionise ocean monitoring of temperatures, wildlife and more

    When Anahita Laverack and Ciaran Dowds tested their robot boat for the first time off the coast of Wales, it was not smooth sailing. The 23-year-olds, both engineering graduates from Imperial College London, launched their autonomous craft – a 4ft, unmanned vessel – from a sailboat off the coast of Aberystwyth last July.

    Although the seas were rough, the robot boat “performed beautifully”, says Dowds – but he did not.

    Continue reading...

  • Around the world, different species are shifting their habitats upwards, with potentially catastrophic results for our ecosystems

    In the Alps and Apennines of southern Europe, nearly all the longhorn beetles are moving uphill, and way up at the peaks, the isolation of a brown butterfly with orange-tipped wings is pushing it towards extinction. This is a snapshot of a global trend. With temperatures rising and pressure on biodiversity growing, insects vital to our ecosystems are not only moving north and south, but up.

    Research shows many animals are making similar moves, but insects’ high levels of mobility and short generation times allow them to respond quickly to change, meaning the uphill momentum can be rapid. Bumblebees in the Pyrenees have moved upwards on average by more than a metre a year, with some species making significantly greater journeys. Moths on Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu have followed suit.

    Continue reading...

  • Crumlin Glen, County Antrim: Along this deeply wooded riverside path, I follow an impish male – or is it two?

    The steep sides of the ravine amplify the dawn chorus above the rush of the Crumlin River, which tumbles over black basalt from its source on Divis Mountain to its mouth at Lough Neagh. I look up at the first hesitant trills of a blackcap. His stutter climbs to a few clear notes, then babbles to a halt, as if the bird were suddenly shy of the liquid beauty of his own song.

    I stop to listen for more. At first there’s only silence – then another outburst. It could be the same bird, gaining confidence; or it might be his neighbour, anxious to remind him of their territorial boundary. Either way, the voice is directly along this riverside path. I go on.

    Continue reading...

  • Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van Houten

    More than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.

    Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds