Lydia Ellery was looking forward to her journey to Zakynthos (also known as Zante) in Greece in May 2017. She’d never been to Greece before, and she planned to spend her time at the resort resting and soaking up the Mediterranean sun while avoiding the wet weather in her hometown of London.
Ellery set off with the intention of returning home with a tan, but she ended up bringing back so much more.
Ellery couldn’t help but notice the animals while admiring the island’s calm coves, steep cliffsides, and beautiful hamlet tavernas. Countless stray cats wandered the streets, congregating at her hotel and begging for food scraps.
“It was very awful – they were all in horrible shape, with sores on their skin and fleas and ticks all over them,” Ellery told. “It was one of those times where I wished I could save you all!”
A longtime animal lover, Ellery said she felt that she couldn’t stand idly by and watch the cats suffer, so she began to use her all-inclusive meal package to feed the skinniest of the strays. The sight of the cats suffering continued to weigh on her, but as a tourist, she felt powerless to help — a feeling that would soon change.
While feeding the cats one day during lunchtime, Ellery was approached by a fellow traveler. The woman explained that there was a kitten hidden away in the garbage who could benefit from some table scraps. The woman had been feeding the kitten, but her vacation was coming to an end, and she feared the cat wouldn’t last very long without some help.
A cat the size of Ellery’s palm emerged from the hotel’s waste pile as Ellery reached the front of the building, where tourists rarely ventured.
“She was probably just a few weeks old.” “She was living in a place where all the trash bags from the hotel were heaped up, which was obviously incredibly unsanitary, unclean, and unsafe,” Ellery stated. “She would have been crushed if the garbage truck had scooped up all of the trash bags with her in them.”
Ellery began visiting the rubbish pile twice a day, in the morning and evening and saw that the flea-infested kitten was always alone during the course of the week. “I’d steal fish out of the hotel to feed her, and she’d devour it as she’d never seen food before,” Ellery said. “Every time I came out, she’d rush up to my feet and sit next to me – we’d become proper little buddies.”
She started nicknamed the feisty kitten Geoffrey after the despised “Game of Thrones” character in order to avoid becoming too attached.
“She was probably just a few weeks old.” “She was living in a place where all the trash bags from the hotel were heaped up, which was obviously incredibly unsanitary, unclean, and unsafe,” Ellery stated. “She would have been crushed if the garbage truck had scooped up all of the trash bags with her in them.”
Ellery began to be concerned about her little friend’s destiny as the time for her return to the UK approached. Despite her best attempts, she’d grown connected to Geoffrey and didn’t want to abandon her.
“I read that once winter arrives, a large majority of stray dogs die because there are no tourists to feed them, and they starve to death,” Ellery added. “I couldn’t face the notion of something like that happening to her after we’d grown so close!” Ellery chose to nickname the kitten Aggie after one of her favorite authors, Agatha Christie, once she found it was female.
Ellery knew she couldn’t get on a plane without securing Aggie’s safety, but it proved more difficult than she imagined. Every rescue organization on Zante was already overstretched with strays in need, Ellery said, leaving no space for Aggie.
“On my last day there, a beautiful woman arrived and grabbed her from the dumpsters and put her in a foster family,” Ellery said. “She was well fed, flead and wormed, and she had her own cozy bed there.”
Ellery couldn’t stop worrying about the small cat, even though she was no longer in danger. Despite the distance, she believed she and Aggie were destined to be together. Ellery made the decision to adopt her.
Aggie landed on the borders of a new country after a pet passport, multiple immunizations, and a two-day boat ride.
Credit: Fb/ameliia.32
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