A.S.A.P. Alonnisos Society for Animal Protection.

Held on Tuesday 4th August 2009 At Craig and Dinah’s House in Patitiri. Present: Chairperson - Julia Browne, Secretary - Annie Green, Treasurer - Les Green, Committee members - Craig Sinclair, Dinah Sinclair, Nik Ivison, Dianne Lewin The meeting commenced at 19:05 Apologies and Chairperson address. Apologies were received from Lyn Ivison and Mike Holmes. Julia thanked Dinah and Craig for hosting the meeting. She thanked the committee for attending and for their enthusiasm and said that she hopes that things will go from strength to strength. Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday 16th June 2009 The committee had read the minutes and they were proposed by Julia as a true record seconded by Craig and passed by the committee. The Minute book was then signed by the Chairperson and the Secretary. It was discussed and agreed that in future the minutes would be posted on the Website as soon as possible after the current meeting. Matters arising from the Minutes Julia asked that the new membership forms be sent to her as she only has the old ones at the moment. Les said that he is in the process of amending them and will send some to her when they are ready. Julia also asked about the ASAP mobile phone and Les said that the divert to her phone has been removed and it is now working independently. Julia asked whether we knew how much was raised by the sponsored swim. Secretary’s Report Annie explained that although the Stall had been manned nearly every day in July, the takings were not particularly good, and she thought it was in part because there has been a woman selling jewellery very close to the stall. This person literally stops people from approaching the stall, gives them a hard sell about her jewellery so that they either give up and go away, or buy something from her and leave. ASAP pays for a licence to sell goods each year, this person has no such licence and apparently does not intend to get one. However, she did threaten to go to the Police to record her conversation with Annie. Since then we have not seen her so maybe she will give us no further problems. Annie also reported that a Greek man is feeding the cats in the port area and particularly at the stall. He is fully aware that ASAP were asked not to do this. There was a lot of discussion as to how we can encourage people to purchase goods, particularly the cards which Will designed and which are not selling. Nothing concrete came from the discussion but the committee will think about what we can do and discuss it later. Annie also reported that ASAP has received the sum of 750 euros from Beau Dendy on behalf of the Fund Raising Group to help towards the cost of drugs and the Vet’s visit. The committee expressed their thanks and Annie said she had sent an email to the Group. Treasurer’s Report Les handed to the committee copies of the accounts to date and pointed out that we still need to address the feeding question. This would be discussed under Feeding Group. He said that there is still a small amount of money owing for treatment from the Vet and Julia said she will try to obtain this as soon as she can. There was then general discussion regarding the fees for animal treatment and that people should be made aware that if they want their animals treated, they must pay for it. It was suggested that we should put details of veterinary service on the website. It was generally agreed that we do need more charity vets. WORKING GROUPS IT Report In anticipation of his not attending the meeting Mike had asked Annie to pass on his report. Annie read the report in which Mike said that the biggest change he had instigated was to add drop down menus to the website, to reduce the numbers of link buttons on the site. One of the reasons for this was to include a Veterinary section, to display future vet visits, and also to add an “ailments and cures” section for reference. He said that he had increased the fund raising page so it can be expanded where necessary, and he has added a small paragraph in red on the home page listing some of the immediate news update items. This will be updated on a more regular basis. He said he will update the latest minutes and newsletter when available. Mike had a couple of questions regarding PayPal and there was quite a lot of discussion regarding this, Tony and Craig are looking into it. Mike also asked if there should be someone checking his work on the website and Tony said that he has in fact be doing that and thinks that Mike is doing a wonderful job, and he admires him for “sticking at it”. There was then quite a lengthy discussion regarding the website and Julia said that we appreciate the help from Tony. The PayPal is now up and running to receive memberships and donations. Feeding Group Dinah pointed out that we need to have a complete list of the feeding stations, that we must have a twice yearly cleaning programme to disinfect the shelters. She said that we need to find some way of fixing the feeding plates as they are being taken at some places. Julia suggested that we get together at the end of the summer to organise this. Dinah asked about notices at the feeding stations and Julia said that most places did have them but they have disintegrated over time, she does have copies which we can use. Dinah was concerned about safe locations for the cats as a lot of the feeding stations are by a main road and cats are being killed. Again this is something we must try to do something about at the end of the season. To try to relocate animals now would not work as they would only go back to their original site. There was some discussion regarding “cover” while people feeding feral cats are away and this will be organised. Also, Dinah suggested a monthly budget based on how many cats are being fed at each station, this too has to be organised in the near future. PR In the absence of Lyn from the Meeting, Nik said that not a lot had happened. Julia said she will liaise with Lyn regarding the newsletter. Veterinary Group Julia said that George Michael’s visit had been productive. She thanked Craig for spending a great deal of time catching cats, Guy for again ably assisting George and Sue and Simon for the use of their Studio. She also thanked Annie for organising it. She said that there are always things to do when the Vet is here in the caring for the animals that are treated, clearing up afterwards etc. Annie said she only has to ask and she will get the help. Julia said that she has made 18 home calls for various problems since the vet was here. Annie and Les now have the ASAP phone for one month so the pressure should be a bit less. Fund Raising Group Dianne said she has not spoken to anyone about the proposed activity on 5th September which is the day of the Marathon, because she needs a specific reason for asking for their help. She said that Annie had a couple of fund raising ideas and Annie outlined them and they were approved by the committee. Dianne, Nik and Annie are to meet to discuss arrangements for these events. Julia said that the only authority we need to ask for permission for the band or collections is from the Port Police. Craig had circulated to the committee some ideas for cards to be given to new members when they join, a sort of thank you for joining card. This was discussed at length and Craig is still pursuing this. Any Other Business Julia said the committee had talked about appointing a vice-chairman, and she proposed Craig, Annie seconded the proposal and all were in favour. There was a discussion about a kitten that had got itself stuck in a drainpipe in the Village and there was some confusion as to who was responsible for the repair to the pipe. There being no other business the meeting closed at 21.20 The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 22nd September 2009 and the venue will be Villa Annalese, Votsi. The meeting will start at 19:00