The Sanctuary
''Sanctuary is a place, a mission, a way of life, a state of being''
At Mesovounia our challenge is to find the balance between the sanctuary and our regeneration project. We plan on homing a number of neglected farm animals by providing them with a safe home, lots of love and tummies that are always full of dinner. Our animals will also be assisting us on the farm. Our vision is to have a number of different pastures, allowing us to rotate the animals around the farm, which will help us control invasive plants as the animals will graze. Our birds will help with pest control as well as lightly tilling the land naturally. And let’s not forget about their priceless manure that will be spread all over Mesovounia providing rich nutrients to all of the microorganisms that keep our soil alive.
Treatment of scaly leg mites
Some of our chickens and turkeys needed to be treated for scaly leg mites, so for 10 days we treated them with paraffin oil, every day for 30 seconds per feet. Which was a messy work, but what an amazing effect it has had on their feet. They slowly healed and the old scales fell off, and new scales became small and normal. We are happy that finally we were able to give them some relief of most likely some years or months of pain. Some of them, were walking with so much struggle and discomfort. It was horrible to see!
At the moment we have 60+ animals
Below are only a few of our beloved farmily members. At the moment we have 2 tortoises, 7 donkeys, 1 horse, 60+ chickens/ducks/turkeys, 1 goat, 4 dogs and 4 cats. But we have many more animals that we share the land with, such as the bees, butterflies, birds etc.
Meet some of the Farmily
Fredrico (Passed away in 2024)
Fredrico is one out of the 2 tortoises that we got from the wildlife hospital, because they have a disease (a chronic running nose) that can effect other tortoises in wild, we are not allowed to put them back into the wild, to assure they don't make others sick.
Limoncello
Limoncello came with Bernard in the beginning of 2022, we got a phone call by a neighbour thinking they were 2 of our donkeys walking on the street and on a hill close-by. Once we got close to them we saw how petrified they were and Bernard was hobbling with metal cuffs and very bad outgrown hooves. We could only catch Bernard, since Limoncello was too scared and she just followed us to our farm. We couldn't find the owners, so while we brought them back with us, we made sure to make a police report. The owners came and despite the report and pictures of their abuse, the court in Syros still decided they could go home with them. When we saw how terrified they were of their previous owners, we knew we couldn't let that happen, so since justice wasn't there to help we paid the owners some money to keep them safe. Not something we wanted to do, but we had no choice.
Angelo (passed away in 2022)
Angelo is such a gentle beautiful male, who unfortunately from neglect has never been treated for his broken leg that now is not fixable, but that doesn't stop him. We are currently looking into ways to see if we can help with his leg to make sure he isn't in any pain. Angelo is good with his fellow male Turkey Archie, but that wasn't for the first 2 days. It is lovely seeing them become friends and how they are at peace with each other.
Jasmin
Jasmin our sweet 2 year old girl, we got her together with her mom Luna from PAWS in January, and she was just the cutest little puppy. She was very shy when we adopted her, but she has bloomed into a confident playful doggy. She loves to play with Sushi the kitten, and with her mom. Likes to try to steal Fifi's and Luna's dinner, and likes to come in for a cuddle with us in the morning.
Luna
Luna is Jasmin's mother. She was found with Jasmin and 4 other female puppies and brought to PAWS. She is the most caring for Jasmin but also for others. Whenever we have a scratch she wants to come and help us. She is obsessed with changing the birds when we go to the beach, and although she was very shy with strangers, she is getting more and more confident every single day.
Lola
Sweet lola gave us a scare when she first arrived at Mesovounia, on day one, she flew straight down the valley as far as we could see into the distance. For two or three days she came back close to where we home the other ducks for food and water, but after she had had her fill she flew off again. After weeks of getting to know her, she has finally settled and found her place within the flock, she even takes food out of our hand now during feeding time.
Fifi - Passed away at age 17 (2024)
Fifi, our dear 13 year old girl. She is our first adoption. We were fostering her after a massive operation at FEP. She was so skinny and had so many health issues, and didn't got any proper care. She is the sweetest, so easy and loves a good sleep. The transformation from the beginning to now has been incredible, she feels like a puppy again, running, playing, little dominant and loves the beach.
Frank
Frank is an older male donkey that we found next to the bins in Kostos in May 2022. He escaped his old owner who was taking care of him since his father couldn't anymore. Although the owner is a lovely guy and said he would come for Frank twice, he is still her and we are happy to take care of him till the end and make sure his food management is better (he has a broken crest which doesn't hurt him but has a link to this). He loves all the company, he is a little slower than the rest because he is the oldest but isn't scared to kick a little to make sure no other donkeys gets to his food. It is such a pleasure sitting with him, he is so peaceful and his company always makes the bad days into good days.