Theoklitos Proestakis, or Takis as he is called, is the owner of a shelter house for stray dogs in Crete, Greece. Takis, who is a former disk jockey, has given up all his life savings to work for the welfare of stray dogs. He has saved more than 200 stray dogs in the past three years!
His story of opening the shelter is very poignant. One day, when he went to a garbage dump in Crete, Greece, he discovered tiny puppies living along with few older dogs in poor conditions. Takis started helping these stray dogs but their numbers kept increasing – each time he’d help a few, a few other dogs would turn up. Ultimately, he rescued 50 dogs from the dump.
For about one year, he used to regularly visit the garbage dump to feed the dogs. Along with food, he would also provide them with medical care. But because he did not get enough support from the local authorities, he planned to buy land to create a shelter for these dogs. “I was not getting any kind of support from the local authorities and people. I had a shortage of money and resources to build a shelter for the dogs. I decided to sell my car, caravan and borrow some money to build the shelter home,” said Takis.
Takis soon bought the land and built a shelter on it. Over the last three years, the shelter is surviving on his personal funds. However, he also gets donations from the people of America and Europe.
Takis posts pictures of the dogs online in hope to find them a permanent home. So far, he has been able to re-home around 40 dogs. As his inspirational work is getting viral, he is getting donations from across the world to support his cause. He has been able to raise over €10,000 (£7300) of funds through his website. With the money, he has also bought a car to take the dogs to the vet.
If you want to donate to Takis Shelter, click here. Also, remember to follow Takis Shelter on Facebook here.
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