
Animal welfare groups on the Greek island of Syros are offering free accommodation, services and breakfast to volunteers who help care for the island's large stray cat population, according to Time Out.
Managed by "Syros Cats", the program requires volunteers to commit to several weeks of feeding, cleaning and caring for the cats in exchange for accommodation, often with a sea view.
Volunteers must be responsible, fit, and able to commit for at least two to six weeks (minimum one month).
In exchange for free accommodation, breakfast and services, volunteers will spend five hours a day, five days a week feeding, cleaning and treating the animals.

The organization's mission is to manage the treatment of approximately 3,000 stray cats on the island – through TNR (humane sterilization), monitor their health, and provide veterinary care when necessary.
This is a golden opportunity for animal lovers instead of traditional vacations, as the work is physically demanding but rewarding, according to "TravelPirates" and "Syros Cats."
The “Syros Cats” organization, which has been in operation since the 1990s and is considered a pioneer of the animal welfare movement on the island, is looking for capable, healthy and independent people to help treat the cats.
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The tasks that will be given to volunteers include cleaning, feeding, socializing the rescued kittens – to help prepare them for future homes.
While all of this sounds like a nice way to spend a few weeks on the island, the work of the “Syros Cats” is essential to the identity of this island.
Thanks to Syros Cats and God's Little People Cat Rescue, the relationship between cats and locals has changed – from hostility to mutual respect – with the island now embracing its feline population as a badge of pride.
"We want to show the world that animals matter," Richard Bowell, co-founder of God's Little People Cat Rescue, told the Greek Reporter.