About Us

AWA: Who we are, where we come from, what we do

AWA (Animal Welfare Antiparos) was recently established on the Greek island of Antiparos by a small group of people from a variety of backgrounds: Greek and foreign nationals, permanent and temporary residents, regular and occasional visitors.

What binds all of these people together is their desire to care for animals.

My name is Bram van Spronsen, I am one of these people.

In the late '70s, I made the first of many frequent visits to Antiparos and I have been living permanently on the island since retiring in 2005.

I adopted my first stray dog ​​in 2006 and with that came the awareness of the fact that there were many cats and dogs in desperate need on the Island.

I joined PAWS (Paros Animal Welfare Society), on the neighboring island of Paros, first as a member, later as vice-president.

My involvement with PAWS strengthened my desire to help animals on Paros and Antiparos, where many of these, strays and 'pets', are forced to live under appalling circumstances.

In 2013, Antiparos was upgraded from a 'Koinotita' (Community) to a 'Dimos' (Municipality), following the implementation of the 'Kallikratis' law on local administration reform.

One of the obligations of a 'Dimos' is to care for stray animals.

This responsibility includes providing a shelter, carrying out sterilization- and feeding programs and enforcing the law with regard to animal rights abuse.

Antiparos' transition to a 'Dimos' through' Kallikratis' clearly provided a big opportunity for Antiparos to have its own animal welfare organization.

When a group of dynamic Antiparos residents decided to establish 'Antiparos en plo', a not-for-profit organization aimed at benefitting the island, its inhabitants and visitors, it became clear that this would be a great opportunity to give the four-footed inhabitants of the island a voice as well.

The result was the founding of AWA.

Our goals:

To help animals in need.

To carry out feeding programs for stray dogs and cats.

To carry out programs to reduce the population of stray cats and dogs.

This can be achieved by various means:

- Through sterilizing stray animals.

- Through stopping the inflow of rejected hunting dogs by hunters from nearby islands.

- Through propagating and subsidizing the sterilization of domestic cats and dogs.

To find new owners for stray cats and dogs and to repatriate them to their new home.

To provide residents and visitors with information concerning animal rights, animal abuse and legislation regarding animal abuse.

To conduct meetings with all groups of Antiparioties to provide information.

To assist in any way possible so that animal abusers may be prosecuted.

To build a shelter for rejected and stray animals where they can be taken care of, helped and fed.

To raise money in order to be able to carry out all of these activities.

I hope we will succeed in making Antiparos an animal-friendly island, and an example not only for Greece, but for all of Europe.

Bram van Spronsen