Lydia Ellery was looking forward to her journey to Zakynthos (also known as Zante) in Greece in May 2017. She’d never been to Greece before, and she planned to spend her time at the resort resting and soaking up the Mediterranean sun while avoiding the wet weather in her hometown of London.
Ellery set off with the intention of returning home with a tan, but she ended up bringing back so much more.
While taking in the island’s quiet coves, rocky cliffsides and charming village tavernas, Ellery couldn’t help but notice the animals. Countless stray cats roamed the streets, congregating at her hotel, begging for scraps of food.
“It was pretty sad — they all looked in a bad way with wounds on their skin and covered in fleas and ticks,” Ellery told The Dodo. “It was one of those, ‘I wish I could save you all!’ situations.”
Ellery, a long-time animal enthusiast, said she couldn’t stand by and watch the cats suffer, so she began using her all-inclusive meal plan to feed the strays that were the thinnest. The sight of the animals in pain continued to bother her, but she felt helpless to intervene as a visitor – a sensation that would soon alter.
Ellery was contacted by a fellow traveler while feeding the kitties one day at noon. The woman stated that there was a cat hiding in the trash that might use some table scraps. The woman had been feeding the kitten, but her vacation was coming to an end, and she was concerned that the cat wouldn’t be able to survive without assistance.
When Ellery approached the front of the building, where guests rarely went, a kitten, barely the size of her hand, emerged from the hotel’s garbage pile.
“She was probably just a few weeks old.” “She was living in a place where all the trash bags from the hotel were heaped up, which was obviously incredibly unsanitary, unclean, and unsafe,” Ellery stated. “She would have been crushed if the garbage truck had scooped up all of the trash bags with her in them.”
Ellery began visiting the garbage pile twice a day, in the morning and evening and noticed over the course of the week that the flea-ridden kitten was always on her own. “I would sneak out fish to feed her from the hotel and she would eat it as she’d never seen food before,” Ellery said. “Every time I came out she would run to my feet and sit by me — we became proper little mates.”
She started nicknamed the feisty kitten Geoffrey after the despised “Game of Thrones” character in order to avoid becoming too attached.
Ellery began to be concerned about her little friend’s destiny as the time for her return to the UK approached. Despite her best attempts, she’d grown connected to Geoffrey and didn’t want to abandon her.
“I read that once winter arrives, a large majority of stray dogs die because there are no tourists to feed them, and they starve to death,” Ellery added. “I couldn’t face the notion of something like that happening to her after we’d grown so close!” Ellery chose to nickname the cat, who turned out to be a girl, Aggie, after one of her favorite cartoon characters.
Ellery knew she couldn’t board an aircraft without ensuring Aggie’s safety, but she underestimated how tough it would be. According to Ellery, every rescue group on Zante was already overburdened with stray animals in need, leaving no room for Aggie. But, just as time was running out, an unusual organization stepped in – Zante Strays, a dog rescue organization.
Under Ellery’s care, the thin tortoiseshell kitten has grown into a healthy, happy cat over the course of a year. She enjoys spending time in the garden with her mother and chasing (but never catching) butterflies and birds. She always brings a fallen feather to her mother when she comes inside.
