Platon

With us since April 1st , 2018.

Update June 2020 – click here

Originally Platon came to us as “owner surrender”, but it is only recently we found out that his owner wasn’t really his actual owner.

Back in 2018 Platon was found roaming on the streets of Cyprus as a stray dog. Eventually he was collected by local authorities and placed into the pound. For those of you who never heard of what pound in Cyprus is… well it is few cages in he middle of some fields rented by government from a local “fella”. The payment includes basic care: feed, clean and give water to dogs on daily basis. In reality government authorities never do any follow up check ups to see if that person truly taking care of dogs and as a result many times dogs are left hungry for days and sometimes even for weeks.

In many cases it is volunteers who clean, feed the dogs, take them to the vets. Without their help many people would not have a joy of enjoying their adopted pet from Cyprus. By Cyprus law each dog collected from the streets is given 15 days to find an owner or new family. If no one claims the dog in 15 days, by the law the dog should be euthanized.

After 15 days period past, the Municipality planned Platon’s euthanasia as this man found out about him and adopted him directly from the pound. Cyprus pounds do not have any rehoming procedures like home checks and adoption screening. Anyone can take a dog and leave. That was fortunate and unfortunate day for Platon. His new owner locked him in the cage for 3 months and later decided he wanted German Shepherd instead. This is when he surrendered Platon to us.

Platon is everything we love in dogs and in huskies: funny, clownish, friendly with cats and donkeys, as well as other dogs. Platon also is in love with all hoo-manz he meets. One could say he is a perfect buddy. Platon can chose to be real pain in the butt sometimes, but in a funny way.

Before we fixed fences , Platon used to escape to the donkey farm nearby to play with donkeys and little pony friend. After the play he would eat the food left for farm dogs, roll in donkey poop and come back to the sanctuary. In these moments he was such a “nice” smelling delight.

This has stopped for two reasons: 1. we increased the fencing and 2. Platon now is never trusted to stay alone. He either stays with volunteers who baby sit him when caretaker needs to leave sanctuary premises or he is going with her. As a result Platon attends various places and loves car rides.

At the sanctuary Platon likes to hang out with cats sometimes. Though he is curious about them in a friendly way, he is always careful when approaching them. We think Platon finds them weird and dangerous lol

Platon is also cuddles addict and obsessive kisser ( in a good way ofcorse).

If there is one thing that he needs to work on is not being afraid to stay alone. He gets very anxious if left home alone, but we believe part of it is that he is not the only dog in our care. If given attention, proper training and bit more confidence, he will be fine in no time.

Platon is currently fed once a day BOSCH dog food.

Medical history

June 2018 – 4dx snap test came out positive for Ehrlichia. Combined with his CBC
results, castration was postponed until he gets his treatment and repeat CBC. 28 days treatment on Doxycycline.

August 2018 – CBC test, as treatment did not seem to work. Further testing confirmed Leishmania. Check for kidneys prior Milteforan treatment. Kidneys were ok.

September 2018 – CBC test showed mild improvement on platelets. HCT, RBC more or less the same with indications of getting better (regenerative anemia).

December 2018 – CBC test showed improvement however vet advised to wait for full recovery before neutering.

February 2019 – CBC and kindey test – ok. Platon can be castrated in March – April 2019.