Dog safety

Published in About Animals

Lost or abandoned? It's all too easy for a dog to get lost, often much harder to find it.

Puppe the wanderer reunited with Paula. Puppe the wanderer reunited with Paula. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

Croatia may be overburdened with far too many laws. Some of them could be ditched amid sighs of relief or even cheers. Two spring to mind very quickly. One: car windows must be shut when the car is empty. Shouldn't the owner be allowed to choose whether to let some air in when the sun is baking, even at the risk of thieves taking advantage? It's surely a personal risk that doesn't require State intervention. Two: dogs are not allowed in cafes and restaurants, even in outside areas. Why can't the cafe or restaurant owner decide whether animals are allowed in public areas which don't threaten hygienic service? The 'logic' that a dog hair might get into someone's coffee is too silly - it must surely be easier for human hair to fall down into a cup than for dog hair to jump up to it?

Old-style vaccination label. Photo; Vivian Grisogono

Yet, without wishing to add extra burdens to the legislation, we feel there is - perhaps - a law missing. Dog owners are not obliged to provide their pets with collars or identifying tags. In the United Kingdom, by law a dog must have a collar with a label giving the name of the owner and a contact telephone number. The dog's name should not be included, on the grounds that knowing the dog's name would make it easier for a thief to befriend and abduct it. In Croatia, not so long ago, dogs carried a special tag showing they were vaccinated, which was at least a sign that they belonged to responsible owners. Now, dogs have to be micro-chipped. It is a good system which provides a source of information on dogs and owners nationwide. The downside is that to identify an owner the chip has to be read by a veterinarian. On Hvar, the only veterinary surgery is on the outskirts of Stari Grad, on the road leading towards Rudine.

Puppe, found wandering, reunited with owner Paula after the vet read his micro-chip. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

What if your dog goes missing?

In the early summer of 2016 there have been several cases of dogs going missing from their owners. In two instances, the lost dogs had no collars. This complicates the situation. It creates the impression that the dog might have been abandoned by its owner - something which, sadly, is done at times, whether by local people or visitors to the island. A collar-less dog is harder for someone to take in hand, whether to remove the dog from dangerous situations or to take it to the veterinarian to see if it is micro-chipped.

Collar and tag: vital safeguards. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

When a dog is newly arrived on the island for a holiday with its owners, there is of course little chance of it finding its way back to them when it has wandered far enough away. Once the dog is lost, the owner should put out an appeal flyer with pictures and a contact phone number, so that anyone who sees the dog can let them know where it is. There are public notice boards in Hvar's towns and villages, and the local tourist boards will also willingly post such flyers on their boards. Some hotel, cafe and restaurant owners and workers are animal lovers who will take the trouble to publicize details of the missing pet. Of course, the veterinary surgery should be notified and given a flyer.

What if you find a lost dog?

If you are worried about a dog which is roaming around, there are several factors to bear in mind. If the dog looks well fed, it probably has an owner, especially if it has a collar. If it is skin and bones, and has no collar, it probably doesn't. If it is a hunting dog and is out barking in the fields or woodlands, it may have been let out by its owner and got lost or distracted after a training run. Local dogs who have good homes generally find their way home after a while. It is often worth asking local people if they know anything about the roaming dog. Sometimes you will get a reassuring answer.

If you are seriously worried, you can contact the local veterinarian. Many people contact Eco Hvar, and we do our best to help. There is a law against allowing dogs to roam freely in towns and villages, but there is no regular system for rounding up strays on the island. If you can take the dog to the vet to check for a micro-chip, so much the better. However, if it has no micro-chip, the question arises as to what happens next, as the vets are not registered for taking in strays.

Abandoned dogs

Every year, dogs are abandoned on Hvar, big or small, puppies or adults, hunting dogs or (former) pets. On an individual basis, I have saved as many dogs as I could, and have mourned many more which I coukldn't help. In the absence of an official system for dealing humanely and efficiently with stray animals, I have become the 'go-to' person when people want to help these poor creatures, while sometimes those who want to dump a dog or cat leave them 'conveniently' near my home. The Town Warden came to inspect my dogs a few years ago, summoned by a dog-hating neighbour. Having found everything in order according to the relevant laws, he called me a week or two later to ask me to take in a stray which was wandering around Jelsa. Similarly, the local vets have been known to direct stray dogs in my direction. Eco Hvar was formed to try to provide a solution to the problem.

Dr. Filipović with rescue puppy Lina,May 2016. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

The situation has been much improved with the opening of the No-Kill Animal Shelter 'Animalis Centrum in Kaštel Sučurac just outside Split, founded and run by veterinarian Dr. Zdenka Filipović. Now, we have established a working system through which dogs abandoned on Hvar can be cared for here until there is space in the Kaštela Shelter. From the Shelter, they have a good chance of finding homes on the mainland or abroad, especially in Germany, thanks to an excellent working relationship with some German animal welfare charities. When the dogs are homed, photographs are sent to the Shelter showing their new conditions.

Lina, originally from Vrbanj on Hvar, finds love in her new home in Germany, June 2016

Finances

Caring for unwanted animals costs money, for food, micro-chipping, inoculations, sterilizations, anti-parasitic treatments and any incidental medical expenses. Both Eco Hvar and Animalis Centrum depend primarily on donations. Our two voluntary organizations are now working very closely together to create more capacity for helping unwanted animals in our region. Contributions are warmly welcomed!

© Vivian Grisogono 2016

Veterinary Surgery Stari Grad: telephone 00 385 (0) 21 244 337 (2024)

Veterinary Surgery Hvar Town. telephone  + 385 (0)21 880 022 (2024)

Zaklada za Zaštitu Životinja (Animal Protection Foundation, umbrella non-profit organization for the Animalis Centrum Shelter),
OIB 05786330179.
Details for donations:
Via the bank:
Zaklada Bestie Kukuljevićeva 1, 21000 Split
Otp banka IBAN: HR9324070001100371229
SWIFT: OTPVHR2X
 
Eco Hvar, OIB 14009858487 
Details for donations:
Privredna Banka Zagreb, 
IBAN: HR37 2340 0091 1106 0678 6; SWIFT CODE: PBZGHR2X
Account name: ECO HVAR
Address of account holder: Pitve 93, 21465 Jelsa, Croatia
 
Note: For more information about helping dogs in need, please see our article: Dogs, How to Help When Needed.

2024, A SPECIAL PLEA: SUPPORT THE BESTIE FOUNDATION FOR ANIMAL PROTECTION

Twelve good reasons for helping the Bestie Foundation.

PLEASE DONATE!

Details for donations:

Via the bank:
Zaklada Bestie
Kukuljevićeva 1, 21000 Split
Otp banka
IBAN: HR9324070001100371229
SWIFT: OTPVHR2X

Paypal donate button: https://www.paypal.me/ZakladaBestie

You are here: Home about animals Dog safety

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Labour’s measures to ban deep-peat burning aim to safeguard habitats, tackle carbon emissions, and protect wildlife, so why are hunters up in arms?

    Burning vegetation on deep peat will be banned under government plans to protect nature and reduce carbon emissions.

    Vegetation on peatland is often burned to create habitat for grouse, which like to feed on the fresh shoots of new plants that grow after the burn. This increases the number of birds available to be shot for sport.

    Continue reading...

  • South Africa’s Marion Island is a breeding ground for the birds, but their chicks are being eaten alive by rodents. Now, the world’s largest operation to eradicate the invasive species is about to get under way

    By 2015, scientists knew from camera trap evidence that mice were attacking albatross chicks on Marion Island, but no one had ever witnessed it first-hand on the small volcanic outcrop off the coast of South Africa. So, when researchers Stefan and Janine Schoombie came across a badly wounded wandering albatross chick in a relatively accessible part of the island, they resolved to return at night. After hiking for 30 minutes in the dark, Stefan started quietly setting up his camera equipment behind a rock. “We were expecting to have to stalk, but the mice were climbing all over us,” he says.

    It didn’t take long for the mice to start feeding on the albatross chick. “The bird was a complete fluffball,” says Janine. “So, they just climbed up its back and started nibbling at its head. We could see their teeth going into its flesh.” The bird, too young to walk let alone fly, could only shake its head in irritation. “As scientists our job is to not intervene,” says Stefan. “But we really wanted to help that bird.”

    Continue reading...

  • With a leg-span the size of your hand, the UK’s biggest spider, ultra-rare and known for its extraordinary hunting skills, has many admirers

    Meet an Olympian among Britain’s 660 spider species: a palm-of-the-hand-sized arachnid that hunts in three dimensions and can even devour fish.

    The fen raft spider (Dolomedes plantarius) is a magnificent ambush predator: harmless to humans but lethal if you’re a pond skater, tadpole or even adult dragonfly.

    Araneae have been feared and discriminated against throughout history

    Between 24 March and 2 April, we will be profiling a shortlist of 10 of the invertebrates chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from more than 2,500 nominations. The voting for our 2025 invertebrate of the year will run from midday on Wednesday, 2 April until midday on Friday, 4 April, and the winner will be announced on Monday, 7 April.

    Continue reading...

  • Annual peak is lowest on record, covering 5.53m sq miles – about 30,000 sq miles below the previous low in 2017

    Winter sea ice in the Arctic has reached a record low in 2025, according to Nasa and the US’s National Snow and Ice Data Center. The annual peak, recorded on 22 March, was the lowest since records began 47 years ago, with sea ice covering just 5.53m sq miles – about 1.1m sq miles less than last year – and 30,000 sq miles below the previous low in 2017. The Gulf of St Lawrence had almost no ice, while the Sea of Okhotsk experienced notably lower than average sea ice extent.

    In late January, sea ice extent in the Arctic unexpectedly decreased, losing an area the size of Italy (more than 115,000 sq miles). This can be attributed to cyclones pushing southerly winds in the Barents and Bering seas, causing ocean waves that broke apart and melted thin ice at the edge of the ice sheet. Temperatures up to 12C above normal were recorded between northern Greenland and the north pole.

    Continue reading...

  • By grazing between trees and removing potential wildfire fuel, wild horses help protect Galicia’s delicate ecosystems, but Europe’s largest herd has declined to just 10,000

    Continue reading...

  • Long Dean, Cotswolds: This is a world – and a worldview – away from the rush to get lab-grown meat on to the market

    It’s a test of patience waiting for a calf. But in our closed (ie we don’t buy in) small-scale herd, ensuring successful delivery of new life is vital. I’m now several days into regularly checking for signs of labour. By day, I stride through the greening wood, spring’s symphony of birdsong overlaid by woodpecker percussion, and by night, moonlit or torchlit, I stumble, observed by owls but without pausing to dwell on what those dark scufflings might be. These calves have been nine months in the making, a few more days won’t matter. Nature, after all, dictates her own pace.

    By contrast, in the news recently, the Food Standards Agency is seeking to speed up the approval of lab-grown meat. These products, originating from animal cells, will be developed in small chemical plants before being processed to look like food, and it is claimed they are better for the environment and health. Putting aside the irony that they seem to be the “ultimate” in processed food, it might be that using science is the most “efficient” way to produce meat. But – pardoning the pun – there’s much more at stake here than that.

    Continue reading...

  • We asked 18 Republicans whose districts benefit most from Biden’s IRA climate law if they back Trump’s demands

    Billions of dollars in clean energy spending and jobs have overwhelmingly flowed to parts of the US represented by Republican lawmakers. But these members of Congress are still largely reticent to break with Donald Trump’s demands to kill off key incentives for renewables, even as their districts bask in the rewards.

    The president has called for the dismantling of the Inflation Reduction Act – a sweeping bill passed by Democrats that has helped turbocharge investments in wind, solar, nuclear, batteries and electric vehicle manufacturing in the US – calling it a “giant scam”. Trump froze funding allocated under the act and has vowed to claw back grants aimed at reducing planet-heating pollution.

    Continue reading...

  • The thylacine might walk again. Or Lake Pedder might rise again. The possibility of ecological restoration in the island state plays into the appeal of going back in time

    There is something about Tasmania that makes it a place where people want to restore the past, and not just because Tasmanians still regularly report seeing thylacines bounding off into the forest.

    Certainly, it’s a retro kind of place. The landed gentry are still a thing, the powerful families of modern Tasmania tracing their ancestry back to the original squatters, who either took the land by force or bought it from the colonial government, no questions asked. Georgian mansions scatter the rural landscape; in Hobart, convict hewn stone is a building material of choice. Nearly 70% of Tasmanians had both parents born in Australia (the overall figure for the country is 47%), and more than 80% identify with a white ancestry (65% for Australia as a whole). If you ignore the giant cruise ships, the Teslas and the puffer jackets, you could imagine yourself in mid-century Australia.

    Continue reading...

  • Riot of native wildflowers that enthralled visitors in the past several years have failed to sprout due to too little rain

    It’s one of the best known rites of spring in California: extraordinary displays known as “superblooms” that coat the hillsides in an abundance of color. Some years the blooms are massive enough to draw tourists from around the world to revel in the fields, such as in 2023 when more than 100,000 people showed up on a weekend to gawk at the poppies in Lake Elsinore, a small city about an hour outside Los Angeles.

    But this year, not so much. Thanks to a brutally dry winter, the hills around the usual southern California superbloom hotspots have been conspicuously bare. Callista Turner, a state park ranger, could count the number of blooms on two hands as she surveyed the 8 miles of rolling hills at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the final week of March, which is typically when superbloom season peaks. “We’re still waiting to see what kind of season we have,” she says. “It’s a very slow start.”

    Continue reading...

  • The last two big storms to hit Mexico have left the city vulnerable to organised crime and in fear of the next climate shock

    Flora Montejo always dreamed of buying her own home. After almost three decades working as a nurse, the 68-year-old invested her retirement savings in a two-storey house in San Agustín, a working-class suburb of the Mexican resort town of Acapulco.

    Montejo’s retirement dream was shortlived. Not long after moving into her newly remodelled home, Hurricane John dumped record levels of rainfall on Acapulco, triggering landslides and flash floods after calm creeks turned into roaring rivers.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds