Petition to keep the Corfu Donkey Rescue Center open

On 7th July, the Mayor of Paleokastritsa informed us that the Corfu Donkey Rescue is going to be ‘sealed’ within 20 days and 40 donkeys are going to be thrown out. It is the job of the local authorities to collect abandoned donkeys but they never did their job. CDR has been doing it for 5 years with no help or backing from government. Now the shelter is threatened with closure.

We are within months of securing land purchase but this takes time as we need to get licenses and planning permission and then fence and build stables. All of you, who know Corfu, know this takes forever! The authorities say they cannot give us any time. They are receiving so much pressure from only one neighbour who refuses to be patient.

The authorities totally under estimate the popularity of the work done by the shelter volunteers. They under estimate the popularity of it for the tourists and even the Greek people themselves. We are known all over Greece and world wide. So rare is it to have a donkey shelter in Greece they cannot even categorize us. We believe that common sense will prevail and all we ask for is more time to prepare a new place for the donkeys.

To help our cause please could you download the petition and collect many signatures. Then post it back to me before 21st July. To Judy Quinn at Box 5210, Liapades, Kerkyra. We haven't got much time so please do it now before you forget.

It would also help if you could send very polite emails to the addresses below. Just a sentence to show your support of the work done at the shelter and ask them to give us the necessary time.

Mr Stefanos Poulimenos (Governor of Corfu) grafeionomarxi@kerkyra.gr

Paleokastritsa Municipality (The shelters in this region) paleomun@otenet.gr