ARGOS was formed in 1996 by animal lovers who decided to unite their forces to ease the suffering of the thousands of stray animals in Thessaloniki and suburbs. It is a volunteer , non profit charity and its only income is the members' yearly fee and a few donations.

We cooperate for neuterings with Municipalities in Thessaloniki and Chalkidiki. A small van was donated to us by RSPCA and is being used for the transportation of animals. The neutered and sick animals recover in our volunteers' houses.

NEUTERINGS
It is the only ethical and efficient way to reduce the stray population. Therefore, it is one of our main aims.
Neutering the strays may benefit both strays and humans:
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In the beginning, it was difficult for us to persuade those who fed strays to let us neuter the dogs. They didn't like the idea of an operation and that the dogs would not have "love affairs" anymore. But after a while, they could see the benefits and now more and more people call us for neuterings.

EDUCATION
The quality of pets life is very low in our country. We are trying to educate people about humane treatment of animals, responsible pet ownership, stray animal control and other welfare issues (circuses, animal testing, etc). We also run an educational program for schools.

:: Responsible pet ownership: Before getting a pet, we should think twice because it has some basic needs. It is very cute as a puppy/kitty, but we also must take care of it every day of its life, especially when it grows old. A pet is for life. (for more details click here).
:: Circuses with animals: Elephants, tigers, monkeys and all the other animals we see in a circus live a very sad life. They are living all their lives in very small cages, they travel a lot and in countries with various climates, a lot of violence is used to make them learn tricks, they are not taken care by a vet and they have improper food food. Moreover, only one out of six captured wild animals reaches its final destination (circus or zoo). The only way to stop this is not to go to the circus and tell our friends about it (for more details click here).
:: Animal tests for cosmetics: Every year thousands of animals suffer and die in laboratories. Most of these tests are not necessary because there are many alternatives (much more safe for the human consumers) or because the same or another company have already made these tests. Above all these, it is not ethical to base our beauty or the cleaning of our houses on animal suffering. There are many companies that don't test their products nor their ingredients on animals. We should also encourage our representatives in the Government and the EU to ban animal tests for cosmetics.
:: Fur: It takes about 80 animals to make a fur coat. Those animals live under terrible conditions (some even eat their babies!) and are killed with a lot of suffering: gas, electrocution, etc.