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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 cares for dogs on the island of Kos, regularly carries out castrations and tries to improve the living conditions of stray animals. During their work, the animal lovers regularly noticed cows that were tied up all day long in places with no shade or access to water. The hot temperatures, the sun, the lack of exercise and the lack of water made the animals’ lives a misery. GASAH decided not to simply accept this situation. However, they lacked expertise on the subject of cows. That’s where we came in.
In initial discussions with our experts, the cows’ needs were identified and the options discussed, and it quickly became clear that a pilot farm on Kos should be converted to pasture farming with shade and access to water.
A cattle specialist from the NetAP network took up the challenge together with the GASAH volunteers and examined various options for improving the condition of the cows in advance of the mission. She also benefited from the support of various Swiss farmers, who provided her with valuable advice.
Since many farmers on Kos need to move their cows regularly, pasture fences must be flexible and interchangeable. 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 run-up to the project, GASAH had already found a farmer who wanted to participate in the project. The changeover was successful and on 28 September 2012, even the local television station came to film the project.
We hoped that many farmers would opt for this simple yet life-improving change for their animals. Kos is the Greek island with the most cows As a result, several farms were converted and NetAP financed the solar fences for each of them. Since 2014, GASAH has been continuing the project independently.