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At the beginning of 2012, the animal welfare organisation GASAH (Greek and Swiss Animal Help) approached us with a call for help. GASAH looks after dogs on the island of Kos, carries out regular castrations and tries to improve the living conditions of stray animals. During their missions, the animal friends regularly noticed the cows, which are tied up all day somewhere where there is neither shade nor access to water. The hot temperatures, the sun, the lack of exercise and the lack of water make life miserable for the animals. GASAH decided not to simply accept this. But there was a lack of expertise on the subject of cows. That’s where we came in. In initial discussions with our specialists, the needs of the cows were analysed, the options discussed and it quickly became clear: a pilot farm on Kos was to be converted to grazing with shade and access to water.
In the end, a cattle specialist from the NetAP network agreed to take on the challenge together with the GASAH volunteers and examined various options for improving the condition of the cows in the approach to the mission. She also benefited from the support of the Swiss farmers, who provided her with valuable advice. As many farmers have to move their cows regularly, pasture fences need to be flexible and replaceable. That’s how we came up with solar fences.
In the last week of September, the entire task force flew to Kos with the NetAP vet. In the preparation for the project, GASAH had already found a farmer who wanted to take part. The changeover was successful and on 28 September even local television came to film the project.
Of course, we hope that many farmers will decide in favour of this simple yet life-enhancing change for their animals. Kos is the Greek island with the most cows and if we can get the farmers on Kos interested in the project, perhaps it can be implemented on other islands too. As a result, several farms were converted. NetAP financed the solar fences for each of them.
