Zante Strays is an organization set up in 2013, by a few volunteers in Zakynthos who wanted to help try to tackle the stray animal problem in Greece. 

Every day more dogs were being dumped on the side of the road, run over and left to die, newborn puppies taken from their mother and dumped in a bin and worse. Heartbroken by this, these few volunteers opened up their hearts and their homes to take these poor souls in and give them a better life. 

Since 2013, Zante Strays has continued to grow and now have rescued over 4000 animals from the street or abusive owners, and they are now in happy, forever homes in the UK, Germany, Holland and many more countries  

The shelter has grown gradually and is now home to over 120 dogs, with many more in private foster homes around the island. Every month it costs us approx £4K just to feed the dogs, which is becoming a very difficult task, alongside a massive £25k vet bill - it’s never been this bad. 

With no licensed shelter on the island of Zante, it is up to Zante Strays and the few other animal rescue organizations on the island to help these poor animals and get them to safety.

Zante Strays is a UK registered charity, charity number 1166760, and have small volunteer teams in England and Germany who help co-ordinate finding forever homes for the animals.

Brexit and COVID have hit hard in the last 2 years. With more paperwork required to allow the animals to travel, and Greek municipalities refusing to provide the relevant paperwork, it makes it nearly impossible to transport the animals home. We hope that one day, the Greek municipality will recognize the hard work of the Animal rescue organizations on the island, and co-operate in helping us achieve our goal, to have no stray animals on the streets, and to allow them to be transported to happy homes across Europe. 

Until we reach that point, our team of dedicated volunteers will continue to care for these precious souls and show them what love and care means. 

We may be small, but we are mighty.