Eco Hvar

ANIMAL WELFARE: What We Do

Published in For the Common Good

We do our best to help animals in need. This is an overview of what we do, despite our limited resources. We aim to do more!

Two rescued puppies (2018) Two rescued puppies (2018)

Every year, Eco Hvar receives inquiries, complaints and pleas for help about lost, abandoned and ill-treated animals. Some of the inquiries come from islanders, the majority from Croatian and foreign guests. Most relate to dogs and cats on Hvar, but they have also included donkeys, horses and birds. A few inquiries come in from other islands and even distant parts of mainland Croatia.

Top ten topics:

1. Stray dogs wandering loose, looking hungry and lost

2. Lost dogs, reported by owners or finders

3. Dogs living in squalor without proper shelter from the sun, and without regular food and water

4. Dogs kept on a chain, barking and/or howling non-stop day and night

5. Dogs creating a nuisance, not kept under proper control

6. Cats abandoned in tourist resorts which close at the end of the summer season

7. Cats multiplying out of control

8. Tiny kittens abandoned and hungry

9. Sick cats and dogs

10. Cats making a mess in private or public places

What we do depends on the circumstances of each case:

1. We check the details of the situation, as far as we can, by visiting the place, and/or by making inquiries with local people

2. We contact the relevant authorities: the local Warden, local Vet, Veterinary Inspectors and/or Police

3. We take lost dogs to the Vet to check whether they are micro-chipped

4. We try to locate the owners of loose, roaming dogs

5. We try to find ways of influencing owners who keep their dogs in bad conditions

6. When possible, we take in abandoned dogs  and try to find them homes

7. If necessary, we take unwanted dogs to the No-kill Animal Shelter (Animalis Centrum) in Kaštela near Split, which has an excellent success rate in finding them homes, and keeps us informed about the status of dogs from the island

8. As much as we can, we support other Charities and individuals working for animal welfare

9. We encourage cat and dog owners to have their pets sterilized

10. We encourage dog and cat owners to clean up after their animals (and other people's if necessary)

11. We try to help street cats, by working on local solutions for those in need of food and care

12.We encourage and support individuals who want to help animals in need as much as we can

13. We take sick dogs or cats to the Vet, if possible

14. We inform the people who have contacted us about animals in need so that they understand the relevant laws which govern the situation; we explain what action we have taken (or why we have been unable to do anything), and what the outcome has been (if any)

Rescued puppy examined by Vet Dr. Mirej, February 2018. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

VETERINARY SURGERIES ON hVAR

Hvar Town; Specijalistička praksa za male životinje. Address: Šime Buzolić Tome 15a, Hvar, Croatia; Tel 021 880 022. On Facebook; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Stari Grad:  Veterinarska ambulanta Lota Stari Grad. Address: Put Rudine 3, Stari Grad, Croatia. Tel: 021 244 337.  On Facebook. email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 HELP IS ALWAYS NEEDED!

As there is no Animal Shelter for unwanted dogs or cats on the island, 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! In 2024 a special appeal is being launched in aid of the Bestie Foundation:

Twelve good reasons to 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

© Vivian Grisogono MA(Oxon) 2018, 2024.

Related items

More in this category: « Insects Wanted! Scrumping on Hvar? We advise against it. »
back to top
You are here: Home For the common good ANIMAL WELFARE: What We Do

Eco Environment News feeds

  • How Saudi oil scientists ended up working on the world’s most important climate reports

    Guardian investigation reveals fossil fuel links of IPCC authors, with experts declaring the body’s conflict of interest policy ‘not fit for purpose’

    On her first day as an expert author on the world’s most important climate reports, Prof Julia Steinberger knew nobody else, so she sat down at a stranger’s table for breakfast.

    “Hi, I’m Julia. I’m from the University of Lausanne,” she said. The man across the table replied: “I’m Mustafa Babiker. I work with Saudi Aramco.”

    Continue reading...

  • Millions of dollars in funding but still no plan: can Quebec save its caribou from extinction?

    The Canadian government has committed C$25m to try to rescue the caribou in the province – but there is no agreement on how best to save the keystone species

    The caribou of Quebec are at breaking point. The province, home to 15% of Canada’s population of woodland caribou, has seen numbers crash to about half of what they were a decade ago. For years, local First Nations people, researchers and environmental groups have criticised the provincial government’s lack of action on protecting caribou, an animal considered a keystone species by Indigenous peoples.

    A recently announced agreement between the federal and Quebec governments has raised hopes that the province will finally be compelled to release a protection strategy. The federal government has committed C$25m (£13m) to the province for caribou over five years, with an additional C$15m for the First Nations communities on whose land the herds live.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Incredibly encouraging’: healing the scars of traditional anchors in Dorset’s seagrass meadows

    Eco-moorings help to restore seagrass in just five years, boosting sealife such as seahorses, eels and crabs

    One of the UK’s most precious underwater habitats – Dorset’s seagrass meadows – is recovering thanks to “eco moorings” designed to prevent the seabed being ripped up, a study has revealed.

    Scars caused by traditional anchors in some areas of seagrass in Studland Bay have almost entirely vanished, which is boosting the number of seahorses that thrive in the submerged meadows.

    Continue reading...

  • China’s stranglehold on rare earths must be ended, says hopeful supplier to EU

    Rafael Moreno, whose company has opened demo plant in Brazil, says market is ‘nervous’ as Trump-Xi summit looms

    The head of a mining company hoping to supply the EU with rare earths in two years’ time has said it is “paramount” to end China’s stranglehold on the supply of the raw materials used in everything from cars to wind turbines and military jets.

    As Donald Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, prepare to meet on Thursday in their second summit of the year, Rafael Moreno said it was also “imperative” that they do a deal for Beijing to ease up, once again, on its threat to ban exports of rare earths.

    Continue reading...

  • Weatherwatch: wildfires driven by global heating destroy UK bird habitats

    Hot and dry summer created conditions for fires in Scotland and England that tore through vital wildlife areas

    Major wildfires this summer in the Cairngorms, along the Suffolk coast and in the New Forest have destroyed huge swathes of important bird habitats, affecting the populations of some of our most threatened and specialised species.

    The first to break out, in mid-July, destroyed much of the RSPB’s Abernethy reserve, home to declining species such as black grouse and capercaillie, as well as scarce songbirds including Scottish crossbill and crested tit. Fortunately it was brought under control before it reached the village of Nethy Bridge, whose residents were briefly evacuated.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: The biggest burst of partridges I’ve seen on the farm. We must be doing something right | Colin Chappell

    Brigg, Lincolnshire: As my attention turns to drilling next year’s cash crops, I create a disturbance out in the fields

    Sometimes a moment of surprise has years of experience behind it. Last week as I was out in the oilseed rape fields applying a cocktail of microbe food (molasses, humates and fish paste), I had quite a shock when up went a large flock of grey partridges, a covey of 26. Twelve would be considered large, with red-legged partridges only ever appearing in pairs, but I’ve not seen 26 grey here in my lifetime.

    This is testament to our nature‑friendly approach to farming, including this year planting specific margins to encourage sawfly larvae, crickets, weevils and ground beetles. These insects form the entire diet of grey partridges (and yellowhammers) during their first two weeks of life. In addition, rather than just planting overwinter cover crops and “catch” crops to mop up loose nutrients and protect the soil from the elements, I now add millet, the seed of which is a boost for older birds. The idea is to create a mosaic of habitats that connect through the landscape.

    Continue reading...

  • Tree vaccines and gene-edited butterflies among biotechnology projects funded by UK ‘invention agency’

    Exclusive: The tax-funded brainchild of Dominic Cummings hopes to find ways to speed up wild species’ evolution

    Vaccines for ash trees, skin treatments for newts and gene-edited swallowtail butterflies are among 14 tax-funded projects from the UK’s “invention agency” aiming to accelerate nature’s ability to adapt to the climate crisis.

    The £54m accelerated adaptation programme from the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) – a public body that funds high-risk, high-reward tech projects – aims to investigate applications of biotechnology that can speed up wild species’ evolution and help them to adapt to new threats such as global warming and disease.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘The physical toll is visceral’: How Indonesia’s fire haze affects millions - visual guide

    Intensified by this year’s super El Niño, fires in Borneo and Sumatra are emitting toxic air for swathes of the population in Indonesia and its neighbours

    For months, parts of Indonesia’s Borneo and Sumatra islands have been ablaze. The fires are sometimes lit illegally as a cheap way to clear land for plantations of oil palm, of which Indonesia is the world’s largest producer.

    So prevalent is the technique that it even has a special term: slash and burn.

    Continue reading...

  • Bear-y good neighbors: humans and animals are learning to live together in an expanding LA

    People are increasingly crossing paths with the wild animals as homes ring the outskirts of forests, sparking a new era of coexistence

    Every year, as summer draws to a close and fall begins, California’s bears get hungry.

    Black bears have long roamed the state, hunting for acorns, ants and pine nuts by the bucketload to pack on calories before hibernation. But increasingly, for every berry and root, there’s an even greater temptation: our trash and the detritus of human existence.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Do you have to be dead?’: US coalminers plead for benefits as black-lung disease cases surge

    Trump says he digs coal – but pneumoconiosis cases are at a 50-year high, and sick miners are mired in benefit delays

    For 38 years, Josh Armes worked as a coal miner in West Virginia and Virginia.

    After retirement, Armes, 74, of Grundy, Virginia, was diagnosed with black lung disease, medically known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), caused by breathing in coal dust over long periods, which irreversibly damages the lungs.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

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