Don't panic. Right now, you are the most important person in that animal's life.
It happens fast: a dog lying by the road on your commute, a kitten with a bad eye behind the bins, a cat that didn't make it across in time but is still breathing. Your heart is racing and your first thought is 'I don't know what to do.' Good news — you don't need to know everything. You need five calm minutes and one map. Thousands of street animals in Cyprus are saved every year by ordinary people who happened to be there. Today that's you.
Approach slowly, crouch, speak low — injured animals are scared animals. Don't grab; let them see your hands. If it's safe, move them out of the sun or road (a towel, jacket or box works). Offer water, never food — an injured animal may need surgery, and a full stomach complicates anesthesia. If there's bleeding, gentle pressure with any clean cloth. That's it. You've already doubled their chances.
Found tiny kittens alone? Wait and watch from a distance for an hour before touching — their mother is usually hunting nearby, and she is their best chance of survival. Take them only if they're in danger, injured, cold, or crying for hours. An adult street cat that's eating, moving and grooming is usually a colony cat with a caretaker, not an emergency. A cat that's limp, breathing strangely, or dragging a limb is an emergency — treat it like the dog by the road.
Our founder once knelt next to a dying cat in Limassol, googling 'emergency vet' while she ran out of time. The bitter lesson: animals rarely die because nobody cares. They die because the people who care can't find each other fast enough. The SOS map deletes that gap. You post a photo and location in thirty seconds; everyone nearby who signed up for alerts gets pinged instantly; someone taps 'I'm on my way' — and you, standing next to that animal, see help coming.
Heavy bleeding, hit by a car, unconscious, seizures, or heatstroke (collapsed, gums brick-red, panting hard): these are minutes-matter cases. Call the nearest vet clinic directly and drive if you possibly can — call ahead so they're ready at the door. In Limassol the 24-hour emergency vet is SHpets Small Animal Hospital, +357 99664080 (Lesvou 5); for animal cruelty the police citizens' line is 1460. Post on the map too if you can't transport; a driver may reach you faster than you think. The map's 'Call for help' button lists these numbers for exactly this moment.
Slow approach, shade, water, no food. Out of traffic if you can do it safely.
Photo + location, thirty seconds. Nearby helpers get alerted instantly.
You're the animal's anchor. Watch for the 'help is on the way' notification — someone's coming.
A dog somewhere is waiting on someone like you to do something like this.
Open the live SOS map →