Takis Proestakis may not be as prosperous as he once was, but he has a better quality of life. And so do the hundreds of abandoned dogs he’s rescued from the streets and dumps on the Greek island of Crete.
Videos by InspireMore
When the financial crisis of Greece struck, one of the first things to go for many families were their pets. But instead of leaving them in shelters or with someone who would be able to care for them, they abandoned them at places like the dump.
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One day, during a visit to a garbage dump, Takis was stunned to discover dozens of dogs there, many on the verge of starvation and suffering from horrific injuries.
“Every day I find dogs here — people throw them out because they can’t feed them or they abandon them because they are sick,”he explained.
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So, one by one, he scooped them up and brought them home, until it was so crowded that he bought a plot of land in an olive grove and opened Taki’s Shelter. He lives there, too, in a shipping container that he’s converted into both a home and separate respite area for the most vulnerable dogs.
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He’s so devoted to his charges that he even sold all his belongings, which left him with few resources. Struggling to pay the bills, Taki was almost forced to close at one point, but right around that time, a reporter wrote a feature story, and word about how much he’d already sacrificed started spreading.
Soon, donations came in from around the world, and he’s been open for business ever since.
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Not surprisingly, the hours he keeps aren’t all that different from the nightclub he once owned:
Eight o’clock I start work. I sleep in the afternoon from two to six. The same time when they are sleeping, I sleep also. At six o’clock in the evening, I start to feed them. So the party starts at six o’clock. They play, they are doing like crazy, they are party animals. When the sun comes up, they relax. They sleep all day and they party all night!
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Once they’ve been rehabilitated and given clean bills of health, they’re put up for adoption. And… what’s this? Looks like that little guy down there just realized he’s going to his forever home! He’ll miss Taki and all his buddies at the shelter, but he’ll definitely be back to visit and give his foster dad an earful about all his new adventures!
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“My dogs who are in the shelter, they have a good life, but a home is a home,” he emphasizes. “Every dog needs a home.”
When you see these poor dogs and they are very close to dying and you help them, and after you see them healthy and run happy and they come to you and they give you so much love – It’s an amazing feeling!
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Taki estimates he’s saved about 500 dogs so far, and he won’t stop until he’s saved as many as he can. This, he says, “is not a job. This is a reason to live.”
Watch the video below to hear Taki talk more about his life-saving mission, but careful, it’ll tug at your heartstrings like nothing else you’ve ever seen!
Share to spread thanks to this wonderful man and to everyone else whose lives are dedicated to saving man’s best friend.
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