The Shelter

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Gouves Animal Shelter is located in Gournes, Crete, Greece. Originally this area was an American military base and the Shelter building was a kennel for the military´s dogs. You can still see the name tags, of the previous occupants, on the oldest kennels.

From this small kennel, the shelter grew to the new structure, it is today. We have around 50 bigger kennel places and 20 smaller ones, though part of the shelter is still under renovation and there will be new smaller kennels.

The Big Kennels

All of our kennels are maintained daily and we try to make improvements whenever our finances allow us to do so. Every one of our dogs has shade, so they are protected from the hot summer's sun, and they have shields to protect them from the cold winter showers. The kennels also have a dog house, or a bed, depending on the structure of the kennel.

Puppy Places

Our shelter has separate small kennels for puppies, that are not yet fully vaccinated. After they have had their vaccines, they will be moved to bigger kennels. We also have a dedicated puppy area, where most unvaccinated puppies stay until vaccinations are completed.

The Sick Room

We have a small sick room / quarantine room for our furry friends who need extensive medical treatment and observation. We are renovating this area as well in near future to better facilitate our sick and recovering animals.

The Cats

We take care of 200 cats every day and most of these cats live in feeding areas, around the shelter. We also have cat places inside the sick room for recovering cats and a cat area, with 4 cat kennels filled with climbing surfaces, beds and toys.

The Playground

Part of our shelter is a free fenced area, where dogs can run free with each others or with visitors and volunteers. This area provides a possibility for the dogs to have some exercise and is extremely needed in the winter months when there are no tourists taking the dogs out.