Eco Hvar

Dog Rescues: How It All Began

Published in Animals

The story of how I became involved in animal rescue on the island, and why ECO HVAR for Animals came into being.

Eco Hvar for Animals Eco Hvar for Animals Vivian Grisogono

It all started in September 2004 with Babe, the dog who should have been a rose. My Croatian isn't that good, despite my being a member of Dalmatia's oldest surviving noble family. But it wasn't due to linguistic failings that I set out to buy a rose and came back with a black labrador called Babe. The scorn that was heaped on me for my poor grasp of the language after this incident was unjust. No, I wasn't looking for a dog-rose. And rescuing Babe wasn't all my fault either. 

It happened like this: my distant relative Igor Skelin runs Jelsa's garden centre, a place where one could buy plants, including roses, but not dogs. Babe belonged to Branko, one of Igor’s staff, and was generally to be found in the hot-house sitting quietly under the table or wandering around, causing no trouble to anyone. She was a beautiful, nicely mannered and contented dog, as labradors tend to be.

babe-may-05

On this particular Saturday morning she was sitting under the table looking unusually morose. No sign of Branko, so I asked after him. Igor told me that he was very ill in hospital, and had asked Igor to find Babe a good home or have her put down. Babe had been in the care of one of Branko’s relatives, but had run off and gone missing for several days. Today she had reappeared at the garden centre, totally unexpectedly.

The news was a shock. I digested it for a few moments. I had a sense of some inescapable destiny. I looked at my brother, another Branko. He looked at me. Dog-lovers both, the pulling on heart-strings was almost audible. We had a short silent consultation, and he willed me forward. Easy enough for him, he would be leaving shortly for the UK, leaving me holding the Babe. “Well,” I said slowly, “If you really can’t find her a home, let me know, perhaps I…” Igor was on the case like a shot. Announcing that there was no chance of anyone else taking her on, he opened the car door and Babe hopped inside.

Roses were forgotten and we headed off home. I was musing, rather late in the day, on whether Babe would fit in. I had brought with me two dogs from the UK when I had relocated to Dalmatia earlier in 2004. They were both females, and used to having their territory to themselves. How would they take to the new arrival? Would they fight? And what’s more, one was called Beba, there could be a confusion of identities. The chain of command would be difficult to maintain. Oh dear. My low spirits sank another notch when Bella and Beba greeted our arrival with resounding hostile barking.

To my surprise, all went well. The barking subsided when the two realized Babe was coming in. Babe entered, there were introductions all round, tails wagged, and she settled in without a hitch. Perhaps Bella and Beba recognized a kindred spirit, as their mother Connie was a labrador, albeit golden rather than black. Babe lived on happily for several years in Pitve, and eventually died naturally and peacefully in her sleep. Happily her former owner Branko recovered from his illness and returned to the island, although he was unable to take Babe back.

So began the influx of canine intruders into our peaceful home in Pitve. And, yes, my Croatian has improved in the interim. No, I have not set out to buy a rose since. But every year there are homeless or unwanted dogs wandering around the island, and I have taken in as many of them as I could manage at any given time. Sadly, I have been forced to leave even more to their fate.

 

There are just too many unwanted dogs being born on the island, or in some cases being brought here. There is no organization on the island responsible for caring for these poor animals. It seems this is a problem throughout Dalmatia. The obvious thing to do was to establish a framework in order to carry out projects which would address the problems. This is how ECO HVAR for Animals, now a registered charity, was born.

© Vivian Grisogono 2013

UPDATE 2024. Over the intervening years, the situation has improved. Tthere is still no Animal Shelter for unwanted dogs or cats on the island, so we are very limited in what we can do. However, the revised Law on Animal Protection (Zakon o zaštiti životinja NN 102 /2017) which came into force in October 2017 has made a difference: local authorities are now obliged to take greater action for animal welfare. This has helped the work of Charities like ours. In particular, we have benefited from the excellent services provided by the Bestie Foundation which is responsible for the Animalis Centrum Animal Shelter in Kaštel Sućurac. Much remains to be done, so please support us, in whatever way you can!

HELP IS ALWAYS NEEDED!

The Bestie Foundation for the Protection of Animals has proved essential for our work of helping animals in need on Hvar, and of course they serve a very wide area across the Split-Dalmatia County. This is a special appeal in aid of the Foundation:

Twelve good reasons to help the Bestie Animal Protection Foundation

HELP THE BESTIE ANIMAL PROTECTION FOUNDATION

PLEASE DONATE!

Details for donations:

Via the bank:
Zaklada Bestie
Kukuljevićeva 1, 21000 Split
Otp banka
IBAN: HR9324070001100371229
SWIFT: OTPVHR2X

Paypal donate button: https://www.paypal.me/ZakladaBestie

 

 

Related items

back to top
You are here: Home animal articles Dog Rescues: How It All Began

Eco Environment News feeds

  • ‘Crucial opportunity to act’ as study finds most of Europe’s wild bee species in decline

    As Cop17 kicks off, records since 1921 show more bee species declining than increasing in all parts of Europe except the Alps

    Most of Europe’s wild bee species and about half of its hover fly species have declined over the last century, a study has found, as a UN biodiversity summit begins in Armenia.

    Records since 1921 show more bee species are declining than increasing in all parts of Europe except the Alpine region. The richness of bee and hover fly species suffered a persistent drop in the Atlantic and Continental regions, the study found, though trends in other regions were mixed or even positive.

    Continue reading...

  • Whale in Wales: amateur photographer captures stunning footage - video

    Amateur wildlife photographer Rhys Morgan has caught extraordinary footage of one of the largest whale species on Earth.

    While sailing off the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales, Morgan and his friends spotted the blowholes of a fin whale in the distance, recognisable by the hooked fin near its tail, a dark grey upper body, white belly, and an asymmetrical jaw that is dark on the left and white on the right.

    People who have enjoyed the video online are trying to raise awareness of fin whales being hunted in Iceland and calling on government ministers to take action

    Continue reading...

  • Giving £2 a day to people in the Amazon helps protect rainforest, pilot project finds

    Researchers say almost 90% of participants in unconditional basic income scheme in Peru adopted environmentally beneficial practices

    A pioneering project to provide Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon with an unconditional basic income has contributed to the protection of the rainforest, according to a study.

    The analysis from the University of Bath is expected to contribute to a growing debate about the role of direct payments to communities that maintain globally important ecosystems.

    Continue reading...

  • Why have countries been pushing for a vital global climate report to be delayed?

    Saudi Arabia, Russia and China among those claiming developed countries have skewed findings of IPCC review

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suspended an important meeting on Friday in Addis Ababa without setting out a firm timetable for its next report. The world’s governments are due to meet in less than a month for the Cop31 climate summit, and this leaves the future of scientific advice to governments on the climate in doubt.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: A species brought to the edge of extinction, recovering in the fens | Mark Cocker

    Ouse Fen, Cambridgeshire: The great egret’s story is remarkable, as is the conversion of this low-grade agricultural land into one of the richest wetlands in Britain

    In keeping with this region’s summer of torrid heat and drought, the field by the path was an expanse of burnt, dead thistles. What was totally unexpected were the 13 great egrets among it. Ironically, the birds may well be here as a consequence of the climate crisis, but their appearance in a parched brown expanse felt strange.

    First, they are creatures of freshwater marsh and routinely hunt fish. Second, great egrets are the size of grey herons, but pure white, aside from lemon eyes and dagger-like beaks of pale autumnal orange. What was weirdest of all was the gestalt whole; the way they threaded through that horizon of brown, long necks extending and retracting like winding snakes, and all this gleaming intensity focused on catching voles. Then a bird would fly, the white rope of its neck rising, followed by a ragged cloak of wings, turning eventually to the stolid beat of heavy flight.

    Continue reading...

  • Colorado wildlife overpass cut vehicle-animal collisions by 91%, report finds

    Elk, bear, frogs and other animals have used the overpass, which connects 39,000 acres of habitat, since its completion

    Colorado officials have tracked herds of elk, bears, pronghorn and even northern leopard frogs ambling across its new wildlife overpass. According to a newly released report, the overpass, which acts as a bridge over a busy stretch of interstate, has helped cut wildlife-vehicle collisions by 91% since its completion 10 months ago.

    The overpass is the centerpiece of a larger system built by the state to assist wildlife crossing the highway, which also includes miles of 8-ft-tall fencing and five large wildlife underpasses.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘For Panama, it is life or death’: how drought is choking the canal that feeds a nation

    Failed rains and a dire El Niño threaten the waterway that sustains the country, with farmers selling cattle to survive

    The cattle should be ambling, grazing contentedly, through Robert Delgado’s fields. Instead, the animals slump in the shade, tongues lolling, in futile attempts to avoid the blistering heat. Soon it will matter little whether their appetite returns, for there will be no grass left to graze.

    In Azuero, an agricultural region in Panama’s Arco Seco (Dry Arc), the summer is generally relentless and unforgiving. But this year, the crucial rainy season that precedes it – typically from May to December – has brought little rain to parched fields. The watering holes, streams and rivers that farmers rely on have not been replenished, and pastures – the vital source of animal feed during the dry months – have not regenerated themselves.

    Continue reading...

  • Excessive wealth, extreme emissions – and ecocide: what I learned at Europe’s big superyacht show

    These yachts are highly popular with the ‘super-bourgeoisie’ – and getting bigger. Can anything be done to stop them destroying our seas?

    Who knew? Apparently everyone did, apart from me: you don’t wear shoes on a superyacht. Now, about to step on to my first teak deck at the Monaco Yacht Show, I’ve got to take my trainers off, and I’m having a sock panic. Have they got holes? Do they even match? Do they smell?

    To be honest, I’ve come dressed all wrong for Europe’s big annual superyacht trade exhibition. The code for men seems to be crisp and tucked in, blazers and chinos, navy and white, sculpted hair and designer sunnies. (I went colourful, loose, casual). For women, it’s something like Riviera elegance. Everyone – whether they’re Italian, French, English, German, American, exhibitors, buyers, brokers, charterers – seems to know each other. The international superyacht community seems to be a close-knit one, and I’m not part of it. Yet.

    Continue reading...

  • Listen out for Lanny: can Max Porter’s mythic tale of a mulch-guzzler really be heard in this woodland?

    Every sun-dappled object is an instrument as composer Dom Coyote and sound designers Elena Peña and Dave Price conjure trip-hop-inspired rhythms in the Mendips for a new stage adaptation

    The woodland is stuck to our skin. Sound designers Elena Peña and Dave Price are hunched next to me, burying a microphone into mossy ground. Composer Dom Coyote is listening on headphones, crunching out a rhythm with his boot before shucking his shoes for a subtler sound. “It’s got to be socks off, Dom,” says Price. Coyote obliges, the balls of his feet soon covered in dead conifer needles. “Do you wish you’d had a pedicure now?” Peña asks.

    It’s a short drive from Bristol to this patch on the Mendip Hills, where pine cones and rowan berries scatter at the entrance to the trees. We’re on the hunt for sounds to orchestrate a staging of Max Porter’s novel Lanny. The adaptation by Somerset-based Bea Roberts moves the spectral story of a lost boy and a mulch-guzzling creature from commuting-distance-to-London to commuting-distance-to-Bristol, with director Nancy Medina wanting the show’s sound to exist within the city’s historical music scene. “A kind of trip-hop world,” says Coyote, who is exploring this idea by replacing electronic beats with those of the natural world. “So we need to go and play the forest.” Every sun-dappled object becomes an instrument. Up on his feet, Price tests out a rhythm on a deep-timbred trunk. He points to the tree. “Any notes for the snare drum department?”

    Continue reading...

  • Four years ago countries made a historic deal to save nature. Is it dead in the water?

    So far not a single target of the plan has been met. As negotiators convene for Cop17, the pressure is on to find a way to honour the commitments made at previous summits

    Passersby could smell the dead fish before they saw them. In August, more than 3,000 pike, roach, carp and rudd were found lifeless along the River Wensum in Norwich. Some gasped for air in their final moments, desperate for the oxygen that heatwave conditions had depleted in the water. Investigators believe that the die-off was triggered by heavy rainfall that flushed through high concentrations of pollution at a time when wildlife were already struggling.

    The 45-mile (70km) chalk river is one of about 250 in the country. They are a geological accident almost unique to Britain – and one of Earth’s rarest habitats. They emerge from chalk aquifers and are home to species such as freshwater shrimp, otters and stoneflies, also providing drinking water for millions of people. But just 11 have formal protection, with many ravaged by sewage pollution and overextraction. The Norfolk river is one of the few that does have legal protection, but it is in poor ecological health.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.