Compassion not difficult

IN RESPONSE to Theo Lagakos' reply on October 17 to Cynthia Georgandis: Mr Lagakos, you just don't get it, do you?

I personally do not expect everyone to be obsessed with my pet. What I do expect in the 21st century, especially in an EU country, is respect and humane attitudes towards animals. In your previous reply to my letter on September 19, you stated that it was a shame people did not like my pet as much as I did in the hotel where I was staying.

For your information, it was not a hotel; it was an expensive apartment, rented for three years and with the landlord's prior knowledge and acceptance that we would be bringing our dog.

Just one day before I left Greece in October, I found a carrier bag in the sea containing a (drowned) small one-week-old puppy, obviously unwanted and just dumped like trash, and our local Greek friend who has several dogs found one of his dogs battered to death overnight and dumped outside his house.

Poisoning, drowning, ill-treatment and abandonment of dogs and cats is not the way forward. Compassion for all life is not too hard. Anyone who can dump an innocent one-week-old puppy in a sealed carrier bag into the sea has a mental problem and shouldn't be allowed out in public! Likewise the person who clubbed the dog to death.

One day a child will be poisoned in error by stupid, ignorant people who put poison down for strays. Then, perhaps, we may see a change in attitude.

Jane Rodocanachi

Derbyshire, UK

Two of the rescued dogs after their first bath

SIX dogs living on an uninhabited isle in the Corinthian Gulf were shipped to safety on July 5. The rescue mission, carried out by animal welfare volunteers, was sparked by a letter written by Tim Munton (published in the Athens News on July 4) who had spotted the dogs on Daskalio islet while sailing in the area.

"The animals were in reasonable condition except for a chronic shortage of water," wrote Munton, who left 25 litres of water and painted a sign asking other boaters to fill up the dogs' bucket." As we have five dogs already we could not take them with us, and it was heartbreaking to leave them behind."

On receiving Munton's email, Vesna Jones of UK-based Greek Animal Rescue scrambled a team of volunteers through the Panhellenic Animal Welfare Federation. "It was clear that the mother dog and her grown-up puppies had been abandoned there deliberately," says Jones. "They had no hope of surviving on the island."

Three volunteers and a reporter from Mega TV channel set off for Daskalio early on July 5 in a rented boat, equipped with transport kennels, water, food, collars and serum in case the dogs were severely dehydrated. "Realising that Tim's photos had been taken on June 11, we didn't even know if we would find all of the dogs alive," says volunteer Nafsika Korniliou.

But as they drew up, "we saw two wonderful dogs smiling at us, showing their white teeth and wagging their tails non-stop," reports Korniliou. Within an hour, the volunteers located and caught the remaining four dogs on the islet. "They were all thin, very wet (the only way they could cool off was getting into the sea) and smelled strongly of fish."

The dogs were transported to a kennels in Attica where, after a bath and tick treatment, they await sterilisation and adoption. All expenses for the rescue operation, the dogs' kennelling and veterinary costs are being covered by Greek Animal Rescue, Graeskehunde from Belgium and the Dutch organisation World Shelters.

"I hope that we Greeks will one day start respecting animals," says Korniliou, who unsuccessfully requested aid for the dogs from Corinth authorities. "We were happy to find the dogs alive and we will make sure that they find lovely homes and never have to suffer again."

Another cruelty victim's life still hangs in the balance. On July 7, the Acropolis Animal Welfare Society found a kitten bound from nose to tail with masking tape, its ears pierced and fastened together with a safety pin. A local vet managed to remove most of the tape, which had bonded with skin, but the kitten remains in critical condition.

ATHENS NEWS , 11/07/2008, page: A09
Article code: C13295A093

How shameful!

THE GREEK ministry of agriculture, which has done little or nothing in the past to mitigate the suffering of stray and abandoned dogs in Greece and nothing to instigate a programme of sterilisation to address this problem, has the arrogance to announce that it has taken responsibility for these wretched animals. The ministry does not acknowledge the wonderful work done by animal rescue organisations in Greece.

Gillian Hearn

Monemvasia

ATHENS NEWS , 11/07/2008, page: A09
Article code: C13295A093

ATHENS NEWS , 11/07/2008, page: A09
Article code: C13295A093

How shameful!

THE GREEK ministry of agriculture, which has done little or nothing in the past to mitigate the suffering of stray and abandoned dogs in Greece and nothing to instigate a programme of sterilisation to address this problem, has the arrogance to announce that it has taken responsibility for these wretched animals. The ministry does not acknowledge the wonderful work done by animal rescue organisations in Greece.

Gillian Hearn

Monemvasia

ATHENS NEWS , 11/07/2008, page: A09
Article code: C13295A093

Crushed, poisoned, chained

MALCOLM Wright's letter ('Tis the season to dump puppies, February 1) really does highlight the problem in Greece. We live in Halkidiki for half the year and help a local woman there who rescues dumped puppies and dogs. These puppies are often dumped in the trash containers at the side of the road, presumably to await a horrible death by crushing.

In our local village there is a man who puts poison down to kill the stray dogs, everyone seems to know who he is, but apparently can't do anything, unless he is caught red-handed. Something needs to be done about this problem. I love Greece and have many good Greek friends who do take care of their animals. However, too many get away with behaving despicably towards pets. Last year, for instance, there was this dog tied up to a filthy kennel under a tree, surrounded by its own faeces. Nearby there was a big bucket of water contaminated by algae and the dog was so obviously thin, neglected and with a flea allergy. Was this dog out in the wilds? No, it was behind a hotel where I am sure many people must have seen it. Indeed it was some tourists at the hotel who alerted us about this dog.

A Greek family lived in an apartment facing this poor dog and, much to my astonishment, carried on their daily life, cleaning their car outside whilst managing to completely ignore this poor dog. We tried our best, we put flea treatment on her, fed her, cleaned her water out and cleaned the area around her kennel. Next day she had disappeared. Most distressing, and it does not do Greece any good in the eyes of tourists. Many will no longer go to Greece because of this treatment. We go and try to do our best whilst there. It is very, very upsetting and I sometimes wonder how long I can keep witnessing this sort of thing. I can well understand why people decide to go elsewhere.

Yes, we do have problems in the UK, but we do not have the stray population that Greece has, mainly due to the fact that for some reasons the Greek people do not see fit to either neuter their pets or even keep them in a secure garden. The only dogs that don't wander are the poor mites chained to a filthy kennel in the belief that they can act as (undernourished and neglected) guard dogs. Please, get your priorities right, Greeks.

Jane Rodocanachi

Halkidiki, Greece, and Derbyshire, UK

Cash injection for Greek strays

European NGOs are funnelling over a million euros of aid into Greece every year to address chronic animal welfare problems

Fed up: foreigners are frustrated by the Greek state's seeming inability to enforce animal protection laws

BRITONS, Germans, Danes, Swedes and other foreign fundraisers are paying for the Greek government's failure to implement animal welfare legislation, footing the bill for neutering and veterinary care of strays and education campaigns for the public.

Between them, ten Europe-based animal protection organisations channel over a million euros every year into Greek animal welfare, the Athens News has learned. The total amount coming from abroad is certainly higher, however, if all charities are taken into account, along with money spent by tourists.

The Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), headquartered and fundraising in Britain, spends nearly 300,000 euros per year on neutering schemes, awareness campaigns and education. In 2005 (the latest year for which a budget breakdown is available), it gave out 132,409 pounds - just under 200,000 euros - in grants to 38 animal welfare societies and wildlife organisations throughout Greece. It also spent a further 77,017 euros on educational visits to schools, running first-aid courses, printing and dispersing leaflets and posters about responsible ownership, the importance of neutering and microchipping, and against poisoning and abandoning animals.

Greek Animal Rescue (GAR), also in the UK, spends close to 120,000 pounds sterling (179,000 euros) annually in Greece. Its founder is unequivocal about the impact of these donations: "The welfare of animals in Greece is funded mainly by foreign charities," says Vesna Jones, who set up the society in 1989 after a holiday in Greece. Since then, GAR and its sister society GAR-Canada have poured more than a million euros into Greece for neutering, medical care, finding homes for animals and feeding programmes.

Two smaller UK-based charities set up solely to raise money for Greek animals between them rustle up 50,000 pounds (74,500 euros) a year for neutering programmes, equipment, food and medicines.

Greek animals are also among the recipients of yearly donations from societies with an international presence. From its 200,000 pound (298,000 euro) budget for 26 countries in priority areas of southern and eastern Europe and east Asia, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) International provided just over 14,000 pounds sterling (20,800 euros) in aid to Greece in 2006. More than half of this was in the form of grants to local animal welfare organisations, including money for an animal collection vehicle, veterinary bedding and a campaign on the welfare of exotic animals. The rest was used for training purposes, such as a stray dog handling course for municipal officials.

The Scotland-based Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, meanwhile, spent approximately 50,000 pounds (74,500 euros) in Greece last year, chiefly for spay and neuter programmes. Expenses for 2007 are expected to double. The Marchig Trust also supports welfare projects in India, Bolivia, South Africa, Lebanon, Portugal, Malta and Romania, among other countries.

But it's not only the Brits who have a soft spot for Greek strays. Denmark's Graeskehunde sends approximately 100,000 euros per year to Greek societies and individuals for neutering and other operations, medical supplies and food, chew toys and collars.

German group Arche Noah spent a total of 280,000 euros in Greece in 2005 (the last year for which an itemised budget is available): the figure breaks down into approximately 93,000 euros for veterinary equipment and blood tests, 10,000 euros for feeding programmes, 36,000 euros for the costs of transporting adopted dogs from Greece to families in Germany, 107,000 euros for the financial support of an animal shelter on Crete and 34,000 euros for supplementary expenses.

A smaller, Saxony-based German society, set up with the aim of helping needy animals in southern Europe, sends approximately 34,600 euros to Greece annually, while the Swedish charity CHANS Hund spends about
5,800 euros a year on neutering and veterinary care for Greek strays.

The government's role

According to law 3170 of 2003, municipalities are required to implement catch-neuter-release programmes for stray dogs, organised either by a special committee set up by the city council or by a recognised local animal welfare society. In theory, the money spent on neutering is reimbursed by the central government, out of the agriculture ministry's one billion euro annual budget. But only a handful of municipalities have enforced this legislation, and charities are left to pick up the tab in the remainder. Further, the burden of organising and funding neutering programmes for stray and feral cats falls entirely on welfare organisations, as there is no provision for cat population control programmes in Greek law.

Neutering is widely regarded as the most effective solution to chronic stray animal problems. Private Greek veterinarians usually give a 30 percent reduction for the neutering and spaying of strays, but even the discounted operations for cats cost from 30 to 75 euros and the same procedures for dogs anything between 60 and 200 euros.

The agriculture ministry has not responded to Athens News' questions about how many municipalities and societies have been reimbursed for neutering strays, nor about the total annual ministry budget for sterilisation programmes. A survey of major societies in Attica has revealed only one recipient of central government funds since 2004.

Charities have also been picking up the tab for publicity drives alerting the community to the fact that the common practices of deliberate poisoning and abandonment of companion animals have been prohibited under Greek law since 1981. The government itself has launched no media campaign on this or any other aspect of animal welfare.

GAR's Vesna Jones says it is sad that Greece, an EU member since 1981, has to be propped up to such an extent by foreign charities. "Thanks to EU membership and tourism, Greece has prospered immensely over the past 25 years or so," she says, "but it is only the people who have benefited. Poisoning of strays is still looked upon as an acceptable form of stray control."

Carol McBeth of GAWF estimates that there are over one hundred animal welfare organisations in Greece. More than half of these receive funding from overseas-based welfare groups, whose members get sponsored to run marathons, organise bake sales and bazaars, buy charity calendars and set up standing orders through their banks to provide a lifeline for abused, injured, ill or simply unwanted animals in Greece. But McBeth is quick to point out that her society, at least, does not provide complete funding for any charity. "We expect them to be doing fundraising themselves as well," she says. "We're just offering a helping hand."

Annual expenditure in Greece

From the UK - 530,000 euros

From int'l NGOs - 95,000 euros

From Denmark - 100,000 euros

From Germany - 315,000 euros

From Sweden - 6,000 euros

Total - 1,046,000 euros

(numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand euros)

Tourists take action

Scores of kittens continue to be born and poisoned each year on Hydra, an island which is repeatedly criticised by tourists for its poor animal welfare record. Efforts by NGOs to set up subsidised neutering programmes for the cats have, until now, met with local opposition

TOURISTS aren't turning a blind eye to animal suffering. Protests from visitors concerning the abuse of animals are so common that the ministry of tourism standard complaints form has "Animals, maltreatment" listed among other such popular grievances as unscrupulous taxi drivers and overpriced restaurants (http://www.gnto.gr/pages.php?pageID=921&langID=2).

Jeanne Marchig, founder and chairman of the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, says that the amount tourists spend in Greece on strays may amount to millions of euros. "My estimate is that approximately 10 percent of British, German, Dutch and Scandinavian tourists will feed and provide for veterinary care for dogs and cats they find in a terrible condition. If each of these spends 10 to 20 euros (and often much more) we reach considerable amounts," she points out.

Greek Animal Rescue receives a constant flow of letters, emails and phone calls throughout the year from distressed tourists. "We have just come back from Crete," reads one recent epistle. "We have never had such a terrible holiday and ended up rescuing a sweet mongrel dog that was permanently on a chain and totally starving. Finding the money to bring him back to England is a real struggle for us, but we just could not leave him where he was." Another: "I've just returned from a holiday on Santorini and Folegandros, where my friends and I were horrified to see donkeys and goats that had their feet tethered together so that they could hardly shuffle around. We couldn't see any way that it was possible for them to lie down or find food or shelter."

"I have just got back home [to Finland] from a holiday on Karpathos," reads a third. "In the middle of a remote location we found a puppy on a 2m chain (photo). He could barely reach the water bowl. We were not sure whether someone was looking out for him, so we bought some bones and toys and returned. The puppy was delighted to see us. His future has been bothering both my wife and me. Is there something that can be done? I hope that the puppy is not left to die on its own. Unpleasant observations such as these spoil the memories of vacations."

ATHENS NEWS , 03/08/2007, page: A07
Article code: C13246A071

Law little help for strays

Authorities are failing to enforce humane population controls for street animals, making a dog's dinner of legislation

The fate of stray dogs such as these pictured in Athens' Pedio tou Areos park depends on the goodwill (or otherwise) of citizens. Homeless animals sterilised and re-released onto the streets, as set out in law 3170, risk poison, injury, illness, malnutrition and abuse

NEARLY three years after legislation was passed requiring municipalities to set up sterilisation programmes for stray dogs, only a handful have fulfilled their obligations. Small wonder, then, that the ministry responsible is unwilling, or unable, to provide any information about the law's implementation.

Enacted in July 2003 in an effort to humanely restrict numbers of homeless animals, law 3170 made local authorities responsible for stray dogs, obliging them to set up programmes of vaccination, sterilisation and identification followed by adoption or release onto the streets.

On February 20, the Athens News contacted the ministry of rural development, which oversees the implementation of this law, requesting information on how many municipalities in Greece have received funding and set up these catch-neuter-release programmes for stray dogs.

To date, despite countless queries to the office of Deputy Minister Alexandros Kontos (under whose authority the issue falls), the ministry has not supplied any data in response to these questions.

The only available statistics were gathered by the charity Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF) and the Coalition in Defence of Animals In Greece (CIDAG), members of which conducted a telephone survey among municipalities last summer. The results make pitiful reading.

Of 100 municipalities questioned, only 29 said they conducted stray dog programmes. Of these, 27 ran catch-neuter-release schemes and two operated shelters. With 22 of these municipalities in the Attica area and four in Thessaloniki, only three others throughout the rest of the country had set up sterilisation programmes. Greece consists of nearly 1,000 municipalities and communities.

Municipalities that conduct stray control programmes include Athens - which says it has sterilised approximately 1,500 and rehomed 270 dogs since the scheme started in October 2003 - Psychico, Agia Paraskevi, Paleo Faliro, Markopoulo, Thessaloniki and Kalamaria, Larissa, and Mytilini.

The Lesvos animal welfare group and the former vice-mayor of Mytilini, veterinarian George Paleologos, lobbied the mayor to set up a clinic for sterilising strays. Since December 2004, when it opened, 280 dogs have been sterilised, treated for injury or illness and identified. "The stray population of Mytilini used to be more than 650 dogs," says Paleologos, "now it's about 150." Half of the 65,000 euros to set up the clinic was paid by the municipality (the other half came from the ministry of Aegean), which also donated the land and pays utility bills. The vet's salary and dogs' medication and food are paid by the welfare society at a cost of 15,000 euros per year.

Funding for neutering programmes is a problem. According to GAWF, of all the municipalities that applied for government funding to set up catch-neuter-release programmes in 2004-2005, 17 were informed that their applications had been successful, but only one, Vyronas (eastern Athens), received the funding. Nea Makri municipality, for example, was approved by the ministry for funding in both 2004 (a sum of 11,200 euros for sterilising, vaccinating and identifying 100 dogs) and 2005 (6,000 euros for 50 dogs) but the money never materialised.

No punishments for abuse

Law 3170 cites harsh punishments for those who poison companion animals, but the practice continues unchecked. Since February 2005, the Athens News has received reports of mass poisonings on Crete, Corfu, Syros, Skopelos, in Nafplio, Xylokastro, Loutraki, Nea Makri, Porto Rafti, central Athens, Alimos, Dionysos and Maroussi. The latest report was of an 'Easter poisoning' on April 21 of three dogs at a tavern in Thrakomakedones, north of Athens. Yet only one person has ever been found guilty of killing an animal with poisoned bait: in November 2004, George Limakis was penalised for feeding toxin-laced chicken to a neighbour's dog.

No one has been convicted for abandoning an animal (illegal since 1981) or for failing to microchip their pet (obligatory since summer 2004). Carol McBeth of GAWF stresses the importance of microchips - and wardens equipped with scanners to check wandering animals - to deter abandonment. Money collected in fines for non-chipping of pets could be used to subsidise sterilisation programmes.

While many welfare societies initially welcomed the law - in most cases they were already operating catch-neuter-release schemes - they have been disappointed at the lack of results on crucial issues. "The law has resulted in our clinic for sterilising strays," says Vasso Kazleri of the Mytilini society, "but we were sterilising anyway. If there isn't a welfare group to push the municipality [to implement the law], nothing happens." Effi Dodoura of Argos concurs: "It's a good law on paper. But it's not enforced."

The groups argue that the current situation hinders their efforts to rehome and sterilise strays, since such responsibilities now fall to local authorities. "The law takes for granted that the municipalities are following programmes for strays, and that all stray dogs throughout Greece have been identified, sterilised and vaccinated," says lawyer Amalia Katsoula. In areas where there is no municipal programme, she continues, one now cannot "legally" so much as rescue a puppy from a rubbish bin. "The law cannot work as long as there are no municipal programmes: it must be repealed."

ATHENS NEWS , 28/04/2006, page: A09
Article code: C13180A091

'Stray solution lies in our own hands'

'Who could abandon these creatures? Nevertheless, someone did' reads one of the campaign posters

ON OCTOBER 4, World Animal Day, some 80 Greek welfare societies launched a nationwide campaign to promote responsible pet ownership. Carol McBeth of the Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), which sponsored and coordinated the effort, kicked off the campaign at 11am on Athens International Radio.

"The aim is to promote responsible pet ownership and create public awareness about the importance of neutering and microchipping," McBeth tells the Athens News. "We are trying to inform the general public that part of the solution to the stray problem lies in their own hands. Sterilising reduces the number of strays and reduces the numbers of animals poisoned. We also want to inform the public about what really happens when you abandon a dog or cat. We are exposing all the myths." These include the one about how dumped puppies and kittens can live happily ever after 'in nature' without food, human companionship or veterinary care, and the one saying that every female dog or cat needs to have at least one litter.

Volunteers from societies throughout Greece spent October 4 distributing leaflets, putting up posters, visiting schools and talking to the public at information booths. Press releases were sent to all the major daily newspapers and to the television channels, and in the runup to the event around 15 magazines published the responsible pet ownership poster as a full-page advertisement. "We have already had so many phone calls, from all over Greece, from people who want our help and advice about sterilising," says McBeth.

GAWF has prepared and distributed around 500,000 leaflets and posters to participating societies. McBeth says that there is enough material to keep the campaign running for about a year. "It will be an ongoing effort," she says. The next step is to lobby the municipalities about the importance of sterilising stray animals. Although the law requires municipalities to implement neutering programmes for stray dogs, only a handful have actually set up such schemes.

* At least 15 cats were poisoned in Eleftherias Park, next to the Megaro Mousikis metro station, on September 21. The cats were being fed and cared for by local animal lovers, and some of the population had been caught and sterilised. Staff of a restaurant that is located within the park had allegedly told off locals for feeding the cats. Laying out poisoned bait for companion animals has been illegal under Greek law since 1981; nevertheless, it is common practice. Only one person has been found guilty of poisoning animals in Greece: in November 2004, George Limakis was penalised for feeding toxin-laced chicken to a neighbour's Belgian Shepherd dog. A reward of 1,500 euros is being offered for any information that can lead to the prosecution of the criminal responsible for the Eleftherias Park poisoning; if you can help, please call 6945-075454

ATHENS NEWS , 07/10/2005, page: A09
Article code: C13151A092

Protest against poisoning

AN ESTIMATED 60-70 people turned up in the central square of Nea Makri on July 16 to demonstrate against the mass poisonings of animals in the area. Since Easter both stray and owned dogs and cats have been killed off by the laying down of poisoned bait by unidentified individuals.

Nea Makri deputy-mayor Vassilis Kouloumbis spoke at the protest, vowing to do his best to stop the poisonings. He said that if - as many local animal welfare workers fear - it turns out to be municipal employees who are responsible, they will lose their jobs. Kouloumbis also promised to try and improve the situation in general for the strays of Nea Makri.

The day before the rally he was elected as the municipal representative on the committee that the ministry of agricultural development and food requires each area to have before it can claim funding for a sterilisation programme for stray dogs. The other members of each such committee include a veterinarian and a representative from a local animal welfare group.

Since the demonstration, no more animals have died through eating poisoned bait, says Helen Grypari of the Friends of the Animals of Nea Makri.

Meanwhile, Eleftherotypia newspaper reports that in the wealthy northern suburb of Dionysos several poisoning sprees between April and the end of June have resulted in the deaths of countless strays and at least 18 pets, including a dog belonging to the president of the local animal welfare society.

Killing companion animals with poisoned bait has been illegal under Greek law since 1981. The offence is punishable by fines of between 300 and 1,500 euros, imprisonment for up to 6 months or a combination of both penalties.

ATHENS NEWS , 22/07/2005, page: A10
Article code: C13140A103

Canadian doggy bag

CORDELIA MADDEN

CANADIAN animal-lovers, galvanised by an appeal from the charity Greek Animal Rescue (GAR) Canada, have raised nearly 500 euros for the stray dogs of Porto Rafti. This sum, collected in just two days, has been used to buy anti-parasite collars, food, vaccinations, deworming pills and other medication for 25 of the homeless canines living in the Agios Spyridonas area of the eastern Attica resort town.

"I know this is only a small contribution towards improving the lives of these animals," says Dianne Aldan of GAR Canada, "but bit by bit, we can make a difference to improve the quality of life for a few at a time."

Porto Rafti and its environs are home to an estimated 1,000 stray dogs; the hippodrome/equestrian centre alone, built just outside Markopoulo for last year's Olympics, provides a home of sorts to some 300. Local animal welfare workers blame the stray problem on part-time residents who leave their dogs behind at the end of the summer and on the lack of sterilisation.

"For the past two years, the municipality has - at our urging - put forward some money to fund a sterilisation scheme for the stray dogs," says Kaiti Dimopoulou, secretary of the newly-formed Animal Welfare Society of Porto Rafti. "The problem is that the money they set aside for this only lasts a couple of months. Sterilising dogs for three months and then doing nothing for the rest of the year makes no difference whatsoever to the size of the population."

However, in June the municipality of Markopoulo (which has jurisdiction over Porto Rafti) allocated 50,000 euros towards a sterilisation programme, which is being carried out in cooperation with the Hellenic Animal Welfare Society.

"The programme started a month ago, and we have already treated [neutered and/or provided medical care for] around 30 dogs," Angelike Terzaki of the municipality tells the Athens News.

The Porto Rafti welfare society welcomes this effort, which its members are assisting with, but its ultimate aim is to find an appropriate piece of land where a shelter can be constructed. The society volunteers say that they will undertake the daily maintenance of this facility, if the municipality can provide the necessary funding.

"The dogs are just not safe on the streets here," says Dimopoulou. The large number of strays, mostly roaming in packs, has led residents to take barbaric measures against the dogs. Poisoning is all too common.

"We find a lot of bodies," Dimopoulou reports, "but at other times dogs just disappear. Who knows what happens to them?"

According to Terzaki, the municipality has no plans for setting up a dog shelter.

* If you wish to donate money or medication for the Porto Rafti dogs, please email diannealdan@sympatico.ca or check the website www.garcanada.com

ATHENS NEWS , 15/07/2005, page: A08
Article code: C13139A081

MANY thanks for the article "Adopters without borders" (March 11). Can anyone explain why Ioanna Karagouni is so determined to sabotage the excellent work carried out by the Cretan group Arche Noah? If she really believes that these dogs are being used for the pharmaceutical and fur trade then why doesn't she provide evidence?

A true animal lover would not impound 58 dogs and puppies - all of which are only alive thanks to the efforts of Arche Noah - and incarcerate them in Athens when they have good homes waiting for them in Germany.

Why doesn't Mrs Karagouni use her energy to prevent (and prosecute those responsible for) the endless abuse and torture of animals in Greece, of which we true animal lovers can show her real evidence and not just paranoid delusions?

Mrs Karagouni's high-handedness has done nothing to improve the image of Greece within the European Community. Indeed, such a scandal as she has created only serves to deter animal lovers from coming here, when they can see the abuse of animals and now know that those who try to help will be persecuted.

Freida Richards Hania, Crete

Disappointed with Pikermi clinic

LAST NOVEMBER my bullmastif Magnus died of liver failure. It happened imperceptibly: a little more tired, a little less hungry. Never sure if it was his mood, my cooking or perhaps the humid September we had last year. We took him to several vets; all gave the wrong diagnosis. What was universally agreed was that there was a problem with his liver - he had a very low red blood cell count.

Eventually Magnus was too weak to stand, too ill to eat. The animal hospital in Pikermi was the last hope we had; I had read and heard many good things about it.

They were nice to start with and very attentive. We did blood tests, an ultra-sound, X-rays. Magnus was put on an IV and placed in the intensive care ward. The attention lasted for the initial exam-inations; thereafter, we were on our own. Every day I would spend hours there and beg for a diagnosis, anything. Some nights, I would find his catheter ignored and on several occasions he would be soaked in his own urine. I would weep as I cleaned him while the staff sat in their smoke-clouded room.

I never got that diagnosis. I consulted dozens of vets, none of whom could, or perhaps would, give a diagnosis. Finally I contacted a vet in Canada, the vet of a friend of mine who also has dogs. She was not optimistic of the outcome given the test results I scanned and e-mailed to her. She needed to see Magnus to really tell.

If only I were a rich man, I should have taken Magnus out of the country the moment I knew he was ill. We are supposed to have life regrets only on our deathbed. I have one already, for which I hope I am forgiven: I should have realised. I should have put Magnus in the car, taken him to a nice grassy field and held him in my arms as he was euthanised. I should have given my friend a death out of love rather than the lonely and painful one he had alone in that metal cage.

Instead they called me and said, "The dog is dead." They did not even use his name. He had been there for ten days. (I think - time stands still when you are tending to a dying loved one. It felt like years, sitting in his cage with his head in my lap.)

When I got to Pikermi, I found him there on a table, covered in a sheet. I wrapped him in the blanket and lifted his limp, sixty-kilo body. I put him in the back of my car, and my wife and I buried him between a fig and almond tree on the edge of a field.

Everything dies, and I cannot be angry that he died. I am angry, though, that there was no diagnosis, no attempt at a diagnosis, no conclusion, no real attention, no real love for him, while he was at the animal hospital in Pikermi.

I got a card from the vet in Canada; I called her just once, and when she found out that Magnus had died she sent me a card with her condolences.

Alex P Paleo Faliro, Athens

Athens News

Let us help Greek dogs

MY HUSBAND and I have adopted three Greek dogs - one who had been dumped at an animals' home, the second who was roaming the streets and the third who we found in a rubbish container. We have given them a home here in Denmark, where they live with our Danish dogs inside our house.

I don't understand why people in Greece, where you have so many dogs that are not wanted and are running in the streets, are so afraid of sending these dogs to other countries, to families who want to give them a home.

The dogs we get from Greece are expensive, because of the veterinary costs and travelling expenses. But we are willing to pay this money for your dogs because we want to give them a home, and at the same time help you not to have so many unwanted dogs in the streets.

I would like to ask all those who believe the claims put about by Mrs Karagouni (see "Adopters without borders", Athens News, March 11) what it is they want to happen to the 58 dogs that have not been allowed to travel to Germany. Would these people prefer the dogs to be put back on the streets again so that there are even more unwanted, homeless dogs?

Jette Ohlsen Denmark

Church attitude to 'soulless animals'

I RECENTLY went with a friend to visit a monastery here. Before entering, I asked the priest if it would be okay to bring my friend's small dog inside. Although not too happy about it, he said all right, as long as it remained on a lead and didn't enter the church itself.

So I went into the church first by myself, while my friend remained with the dog. After a few minutes I told the priest that I would go to look after the dog while my friend came inside to see this beautiful church.

But I found that she had gone. She had been sent out of the monastery by another priest, who said that this was holy ground and no animal without a soul was allowed in.

This attitude is one that must have an adverse effect on local people's attitude towards what I thought were God's creatures. Now I understand why it is that some dogs are chained with no shelter, water or food. It must be because, without souls, they do not suffer when they die a slow death.

Alan Day Neapoli, Crete

ATHENS NEWS , 25/03/2005, page: A15
Article code: C13123A151

Adopters without borders

The questionable apprehension of Germany-bound dogs at Piraeus port has reignited the dispute about sending Greek strays abroad

CORDELIA MADDEN

ON SUNDAY 27 February, fifty-eight dogs from the Cretan Arche Noah (Noah's Ark) animal shelter were detained at the port of Piraeus. The dogs were en route to Germany, where they had families waiting to adopt them.

The lorryload of dogs was stopped by Ioanna Karagouni, president of a group named the Coalition of Animal Welfare Societies in Greece. Karagouni was also behind a similar scene at the airport last March, in which she temporarily prevented six puppies from flying to new homes in Belgium.

At a March 4 press conference, Karagouni, who maintains she represents 20 unnamed societies, told journalists that she had acted to enforce the law, as she says the paperwork was not sufficient for exporting the Cretan dogs.

The following day, on mainstream television broadcasts, she spiced up her protest by reiterating the claim she had made to media in the case of the airport puppies, that welfare groups are selling Greek strays abroad to the pharmaceutical and fur industries.

Lawyers for Arche Noah, a German organisation, counter that the dogs had all the necessary papers for travel, and more: not only did they each have EU passports and microchips, which are the requirements in European law for travel between member states (excepting entry to the UK, Ireland, Sweden and Norway, which have additional requirements); the dogs also had a letter stating that they are the property of Arche Noah and should not, therefore, be categorised as strays, a statement from the mayor of Hania acknowledging the society's work, a letter of support from the German embassy in Athens and a statement verifying that the dogs were going to homes and not laboratories.

Karagouni asserts that dogs being exported also need a release paper from the relevant municipality. Lawyers are divided on this issue. She has filed a lawsuit against Arche Noah for attempting to export dogs illegally. While the case pends, the 58 dogs remain at a private boarding kennels in Koropi, at a cost of 500 euros a day to Arche Noah.

"We are very sad. Our dogs are lost; we don't know where they are and when, if ever, we will see them," Ilona Gehring, a puppy-adopter to-be, tells the Athens News from Stuttgart. She was expecting her first Greek stray in the detained Arche Noah shipment. "I am waiting for Choice. He's a five-month-old male," she says.

Her neighbour, Angelika Junker, already has a dog from Arche Noah, a male called Nick who arrived last August. "I had been to Greece on holiday, seen the problems over there and decided immediately that I had to save one of the dogs," she says. "Now I am expecting another dog from them, Fred Astaire. I wanted Nick to have a companion who would speak the same language!"

Supply and demand

Every year Arche Noah sends between 800 and 1,000 dogs from Crete to be adopted by German families. The group's chairman, veterinarian Thomas Busch, says rehoming abroad is the only way for the small shelter they run near Hania not to become overwhelmed. The shelter can host up to 150 inhabitants, with between five and ten new dogs being dumped outside every day.

Many other organisations also go through the often complicated and costly procedure of sending strays to be rehomed in other European countries, rather than leaving the animals to fend for themselves here. "We try to give at least some of them a chance of a happy life," says Vesna Jones of Greek Animal Rescue, which cooperates with a number of local societies in rehoming Greek strays in England. "On the street they face daily perils such as poison, the wheels of cars, disease, injuries and starvation."

Many Greeks, like Karagouni, resist the idea of rehoming Greek strays abroad. They say that only exacerbates stray problems elsewhere.

"Some areas of Europe have a surplus of strays; others don't. It makes complete sense to take dogs from one country to rehome in another," David Bowles from the international department of the UK-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) tells the Athens News. "The issue is to improve the welfare of the dog, whether that means sending it to a good home in Thessaloniki or in Berlin. Germany, Sweden and Denmark have very good, humane stray animal control programmes which can be considered to have solved the problem. Why not match up people who want to give dogs a loving home with dogs that are available?"

Busch says that German shelters tend mainly to contain only very large dogs or those with behavioural problems. Greek strays, he says, are mostly medium-sized, friendly and sociable. Gehring agrees. "I think animals from Greece are very special, very friendly but also with a more independent spirit than our German dogs," she says.

Both Junker and Gehring expect to pay around 200 euros each to cover some of the costs involved in importing the dogs. The microchip, vaccination and neutering add up to between 100 and 150 euros per animal; the cost of sending the lorry across Europe is estimated by Busch at around 1,700 euros.

There is hope for the 58 dogs bound for Germany. The puppies Karagouni detained at Athens airport last year did make it to Belgium, just a few days late.

Kalamaki strays killed

ON THE morning of March 4, twelve stray dogs were poisoned in the area of Kalamaki. Staff at the nearby Kitchen Bar restaurant tell this newspaper they found the dogs, who some workers there used to feed, in the last stages of poisoning. Only one could be saved. Any information on this crime can be reported to the Athens News.

ATHENS NEWS , 11/03/2005, page: A06
Article code: C13121A061

Poisoned pups on Skopelos

SIX PUPPIES and one adult dog died after eating poisoned bait over the weekend of February 12-13 on the island of Skopelos, the local animal welfare society reports. The 7 homeless pups were being kept by the Skopelos Caring for Animals and Nature (SCAN) organisation in a large enclosure belonging to the municipality, while waiting for a February 15 flight to Germany where new homes had been found for them. On the morning of February 13, a SCAN member went to feed the puppies and found all but two had disappeared.

One was dead. A vet confirmed that both puppies had ingested poison. The SCAN president, Barbara Bates, describes the only surviving pup as a shy eater who would always wait for the others to finish before approaching the bowl: "Maybe there was no poison left by the time it came to her turn," she speculates. The lone pup was flown to her new family on February 17.

In June 2003, Skopelos was shocked by a poisoning spree in which the local school's two canine mascots, along with a further seven dogs and unknown number of cats, died.

Further information: www.scanskopelos.org

ATHENS NEWS , 25/02/2005, page: A14
Article code: C13119A142

Stop killing our cats

WE HAVE been at the Athens Girokomeio (Old People's Home) since 1999. We love animals and it was a great joy for us when we found cats wandering around the home's grounds. We take care of them and their company gives us unimaginable pleasure. It is well known the good that animals do for the elderly and it is scientifically proven that the company of animals has a positive effect on people with high blood pressure, heart conditions and depression, which is why in many old people's homes in Europe there are resident animals.

We believe that animals, just like humans, have the right to life. To take away a life is a very serious crime, especially if the life is taken in a tortuous way. Sadly, since the time that we came to the home we have witnessed, with immense grief, an outrageous crime that has no beginning and no end.

Our cats are being systematically and repeatedly exterminated with poison, and we are constantly finding their corpses.

Even though the animals have been sterilised and vaccinated, the crimes have not stopped.

We call on all the authorities to find a solution to this very serious problem, which tarnishes the reputation of our home. We ask them to take harsher measures so that this crime against the animals is not repeated.

Signed by 65 residents Girokomeio Athinon, Kifissias Ave, Athens

Letters to the editor

Neutering the only solution for strays

PEOPLE who think like Mr Griffith ("Catch and destroy stray dogs", Letters to the Editor, November 26) are part of the problem. Many take a reactive approach rather than a proactive one to such a problem, as it's usually the 'easy' way out.

Mr Griffith should put his money where his mouth is and help some of the stray dogs have a better life, be it on the streets or after they've been rescued. There are many ways he, and others, can offer assistance to these defenceless animals. There is no excuse, or logical reason, for deliberately killing animals to control the number of strays on the streets; the only proven longterm solution is to spay/neuter - it's that simple. The people of Greece should get on with implementing a countrywide sterilisation programme.

Dianne Aldan Greek Animal Rescue - Canada (GARCANADA) Toronto

An unforgettable experience

I RECENTLY came back from Greece after a week's holiday with my husband and children. We stayed at a place just outside Athens, called Galazia Akti.

At our flat (house shared with the owner) was a big Alsatian dog permanently chained to a metal pole. On our fourth day I discovered three little kittens in the garden. They had sticky eyes and were worryingly thin. I walked through the neighbourhood ringing doorbells and asking if anybody would take on the kittens. Some people quickly shut their gates after me and I was told later that they were afraid that I was an Albanian woman after their belongings. When I returned that afternoon to the house all the kittens had disappeared. I still wonder what happened to them.

When we went to the beach I noticed two young dogs incarcerated separately in two cages no larger than 1.5m square with not enough space to turn around or stretch. The dogs were very dirty and there was a lot of excrement in their cages, for me a sign that they were probably never taken for a walk. These dogs were at the fish restaurant 'Mouragio', on the 37th km of Souniou Ave, Galazia Akti.

Local people told me that the dogs were permanently locked up because the owner thought the animals may become aggressive towards customers. I put my hand into their cages to stroke them and there was no sign of aggression, but they were scared. I offered the owner of the dogs to clean out their cages but he declined.

This visit to Greece has done something terrible to me. The urge to do something about the situation there becomes stronger in me every day. I cannot forget my experience. I would like to get hold of those two dogs and try to get them into England. I can see from the internet that a lot of German people have managed to get animals out of Greece but it seems to be more difficult to do this from England.

Eleonore Philip-McKenzie Highgate, London

ATHENS NEWS , 17/12/2004, page: A12
Article code: C13109A121

Pet shop chain sparks ire with animal lottery

ONCE again, Pet City has angered animal lovers. The well-known pet shop chain is advertising a Christmas raffle that promises prizes of puppies, parrots and exotic fish. The agriculture ministry, however, is set to stop the lottery before its draw.

Posters for the lottery can be found in the windows of Pet City stores throughout greater Athens. To enter the December 24 draw, contestants have to answer five very simple questions (for example: "What [type of animal] is Mickey Mouse?"). The competition is open to all ages, and requires no parental consent for under-18s.

The prizes are five puppies or small dogs, two parrots and five aquaria complete with fish. In fine print at the bottom of the entry form, the Pet City management notes that the breeds of dog given to the winners depend on available stock. In theory, one could win a Rottweiler or Great Dane.

"It is unacceptable that living creatures are offered as prizes in a lottery," says Carol McBeth of Greek Animal Welfare Fund. "What thought, if any, will these winners have given regarding their prize? Are they willing to commit themselves to a parrot, that can live for over 80 years? Can they provide a dog with the necessary care for the next 15 or so years? Aquaria are nice to look at, but they require a lot of attention. Have all the members of the family discussed entering the competition and the outcome if they win a prize? Unlikely!"

GAWF made a complaint about the Pet City lottery to the Athens prefecture veterinary department, which, according to law 3170 for companion and stray animals, is responsible for monitoring pet shops. This complaint was copied to Dr Chrysoula Dile at the veterinary department of the ministry of agricultural development and foods. The EKAZ (Volunteers for the Care of Stray Animals) group from southeastern Athens, SPAZ Glyfada and the Animal Welfare Group of Ymittos, among other societies, have complained directly to the agriculture ministry.

Dr Dile tells the Athens News that the ministry sent orders to the veterinary department of the prefecture requesting that it "ask" Pet City to cancel the raffle. Nothing has been done until now, she says, as the administrator responsible at the prefecture has been on leave. She expects the issue to be resolved on December 10, when he returns.

Costis Handras, president of the Panhellenic Veterinarians' Association, has also expressed concern to the ministry. "This is not the way to treat any living creature, whether it's a puppy or a fish or a parrot," he says. "They are obviously just trying to make some publicity for the shop; they are not acting in the animals' best interests. It's not illegal, but it's certainly not right."

McBeth fears these lottery puppies have a gloomy future. "There is a slim possibility that the winners will accept their dogs as permanent members of the family, but these poor unfortunate creatures are more likely to end up joining the huge numbers of companion animals abandoned on the streets once the novelty of the Christmas gift or prize wears off."

The owner of the seven Pet City stores that are participating in the draw, Matzouranis Matzouranakis, did not respond to Athens News calls on this issue.

Pet City has been criticised by animal lovers for a number of issues, most notably in spring 2003, when the chain earned negative publicity from as far away as Australia for its decision to sell miniature 'Tammar' wallabies as pets. Wallabies are a protected species in their native Australia and their export is illegal. They rarely survive in captivity. Three Pet City-bought wallabies were donated to the Attica Zoological Park in Spata last year; all three have since died.

ATHENS NEWS , 10/12/2004, page: A10
Article code: C13108A101

Athens dogs' disappearing act

Allegations that thousands of strays vanished during the Olympics seem to be unfounded, but welfare workers fear for the future

CORDELIA MADDEN

ACCORDING to allegations published in the media, thousands of dogs disappeared in the runup to and during the summer Olympics. On August 14, Ta Nea reported that the Hellenic Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) believes up to 4,000 stray dogs were removed - and probably killed - before the Games, while on October 13 the same newspaper printed allegations from the St Francis of Assisi society that some 1,000 strays were collected from central Athens this summer and never returned.

The truth, however, seems rather more humane and certainly less sensational. "I sent a letter of complaint [to Ta Nea] because I never said anything like that," says Liana Alexandri of HAWS. "What I said was that for the last three years we've noticed that a large number of animals are being poisoned. But I never said how many because we don't have - and no one has - any such figures."

"We enjoyed the Games with dogs on the streets," she continues. "We cooperated with Athens 2004 and hosted 198 dogs from the Markopoulo shooting and equestrian venues, the Olympic Village, the Galatsi sports hall and the rowing lake at Schinias. We started putting them back where we had collected them from in mid-September and by October 2-3 they were all back - except the 17 that were, happily, adopted. We have papers for all these animals and we know where each one went."

Marina Kollia of St Francis of Assisi repeats her claim to the Athens News, saying that over 1,000 dogs have gone. When asked if she means from the whole of Attica, she says: "We're talking about dogs from the centre of Athens. The 1,100 dogs that [Athens Deputy-Mayor Tonia] Kanellopoulou has collected and sterilised [since the beginning of the city's catch-neuter-release programme in October 2003], where have they gone?"

Right back where they were collected from, says veterinarian Anna Makri, who heads Kanellopoulou's stray team. Just as the 35 dogs that the municipality gathered up during the Olympics were put back - sterilised and vaccinated - by early September, says Makri.

The only dogs that did not return, according to Makri, were 10 animals suffering from the parasitic disease Leishmaniasis. "Every dog that is collected from the street is examined by a vet and tested for Kala-azar (Leishmaniasis)," she explains. "If a dog has a very high antibody count, we will keep it at [our temporary shelter/clinic at] Markopoulo."

"Not one of our dogs disappeared during the Olympics," says Lia Xenou of the Protection of Strays of Acropolis, which cares for around 60 stray dogs. "Some of our puppies from the Acropolis and Pnyx went to Markopoulo but, on the whole, we tried to avoid sending dogs there. Not because we feared they wouldn't come back, but because we were worried the archaeologists wouldn't let the dogs come back again afterwards."

St Francis of Assisi released figures showing missing dogs in various districts of Athens, including 10 from the Holiday Inn area, 10 from Omonia Square, 15 from Monastiraki and Psyrri, three from Fix metro station and eight from the Thissio end of the Apostolou Pavlou pedestrian walkway.

"But the dogs at Fix - on Drakou St - are still there, and so are all the dogs from Apostolou Pavlou and the Ancient Agora," counters Xenou of the Acropolis society.

Back home in Kolonaki

"The dogs from Kolonaki Square have come back, and at Syntagma Square all the usual ones seem to be there," says Maria Petrounakou of SOZO, a central Athens-based charity. "Claims that 1,000 dogs are missing seem very exaggerated. We have been told about poisonings of cats, which is very sad, but nothing recently about dogs disappearing."

According to Kollia, 14 dogs disappeared from around the Kallimarmaro Stadium before the Games, and Xenou confirms that the dogs from neighbouring Ardittos hill have gone. Athens municipality say they removed the only two dogs (both male) from in front of the stadium, one before the Olympics and one before the Paralympics. Following sterilisation and identification, one dog was returned to the stadium on September 20, while the other was released at Panepistimiou St after the Paralympics. A resident tells the Athens News that out of the 4-5 dogs which used to live behind the stadium, at least two were poisoned - reportedly by a local.

Alexandri from HAWS believes that, in general, the temporary hosting programme of dogs during the Games worked out well. What worries her is the post-Olympic situation. "Since the Olympics, there has been so much poisoning - at Schinias, in Marathon, Nea Makri and Zoumperi there is hardly a single stray dog or cat left. Even owned dogs were poisoned," she says. "It seems that many municipalities do not want to pay for [the sterilisation scheme required of them by law 3170]; while in those areas where animals were removed during the Games, people are upset to see them again and are reacting by laying down poison.

"The animals are in danger now," says Alexandri. "They were sterilised and vaccinated and kept in kennels for up to two months, and now it seems that they will die on the streets."
ATHENS NEWS , 29/10/2004, page: A08
Article code: C13102A081

Glyfada deports its dogs

The municipality has caused consternation by paying a private kennel in Schymatari to collect around 130 strays from the area. Why is it necessary to spend a fortune sending the animals away and what will happen to them once the funds are exhausted? query welfare activists

CORDELIA MADDEN

TWICE in the past month-and-a-half a van has drawn up at the Glyfada municipal pound in the early hours of the morning. A couple would emerge from the vehicle, break into the shelter and attempt to load up the 120 dogs from within. Both times they were stopped by a human barrier of irate animal lovers.

Despite appearances, these intruders are sanctioned by the municipality to remove the dogs from the shelter and take them elsewhere. Taking a large number of dogs from a public shelter requires the presence of two state veterinarians - a criterion the movers did not fulfil on their previous visits. Next time, however, they will be fully prepared.

The municipality's motives for the move are ostensibly benign. Describing the pound - which for the past 12 years has operated in a rat-infested area behind the Glyfada golf course next to an unofficial rubbish dump and a dustcart parking lot - as "miserable", Glyfada Mayor Stylianos Sfakianakis tells the Athens News the town hall has awarded a contract to Avra Farm in Schymatari to host between 120 and 130 dogs, at the cost of just over 4 euros per dog per day, until the 360,000 euros that the municipality has put aside for this project has been exhausted.

Workers at the shelter and other local animal lovers are incensed at the decision. "Of course the shelter is in a 'miserable' condition, because the municipality has never bothered to spend any money on it," says Athens 2004 volunteer programme manager Olga Kikkou, who lives opposite the shelter. "They haven't even connected it to the sewage system."

"There is no reason to send the dogs so far away," says shelter worker Vaso Ioannou, who says she has not been paid by the municipality for 20 months. "We won't be able to go and visit them and check that they are okay, and people who might potentially want to rehome the dogs won't be able to get there either. Instead of spending all this money sending the dogs away, the mayor should make some improvements to the place here so we can keep the dogs until there is another site ready."

Municipality and activists agree that the conditions at the Glyfada shelter leave much to be desired; but the welfare workers are also concerned about the situation at Avra Farm. Glyfada resident Vana Redoumi sent the mayor a letter after she visited the private establishment in August, advising him that it did not fulfil Greek law 3170's requirements for dog shelters. "The law says that each run must have a brick-built shelter to provide protection from the elements," she tells the Athens News, "but the boarding dogs only had wooden houses and the strays [Avra Farm also hosts a number of dogs from Helliniko] had no shelter whatsoever." Redoumi notes that up to four dogs were kept in each 2x2 metre run, and she fears that with the influx of 120 dogs from Glyfada, they will be packed in even more tightly. "[The owner] is a businessman: he will squash in as many dogs as possible to get the money," she says.

Despite such mixed reports, Mayor Sfakianakis says he has not been to visit Avra Farm yet.

'Dangerous' dogs removed

Deputy Mayor Gerasimos Filopoulos told the newspaper Miso Miso on October 5 that all Glyfada's strays, not just those from the shelter, will be collected and taken to Avra Farm. The mayor, however, denies this: "We have no intention of making the dogs disappear. They will stay on the streets. Even if we wanted to send them all, we couldn't bear the cost," he says.

However, he notes that 'dangerous' strays will be sent to the kennel. "I get complaints all the time about strays attacking people. I won't put animal lovers before mothers whose children are threatened," he says.

"There has not been a single official complaint to the police about a dog attacking anyone in Glyfada," says Marina Tziliou, a member of the charity group Dikaioma Zois. "The mayor just wants an excuse to get rid of all the dogs from the streets, almost all of which have been sterilised and vaccinated by us or by other local charities and animal-loving individuals."

And what will happen to these dogs when the money runs out? According to the mayor, the municipality will try to obtain a piece of land on the slopes of Mount Hymettus from the government and set up a shelter there. But, "how are they sure that in a year they will have a piece of land?" asks Loukas Papaioannou, president of Dikaioma Zois. "All this time they've done nothing and found nothing. The municipal rubbish workers, who claim they are getting diseases from the dogs, have proposed a site on the other side of the golf course, away from human habitation," he adds. "But the municipality refused it."

Ioannou has a 500m2 piece of land in Keratea that she is willing to convert into a shelter, but "we need about a month to fix it, fence it in and make kennels". The mayor would only have to give a donation towards the cost of building, as well as continuing to pay for the dogs' food, she says.

According to law 3170, municipalities should - rather than sending strays to shelters - set up catch, neuter and release programmes, as the only proven way to humanely reduce the numbers of homeless animals. The present arrangement with Avra Farm certainly does not offer a solution. The Glyfada shelter first came into existence in 1991 because people were dumping their unwanted dogs there. This practice will not cease now that there is no longer an 'official' shelter in the area, but the municipality does not have the funds or infrastructure to send every dog that is dumped, every litter of puppies born, out to Schymatari, neither does Avra Farm have unlimited space.

"As long as there are no proper sterilisation programmes, as long as there is no education and people can keep buying puppies and dumping them when they get fed up with them, the problem won't go away," says Kikkou. "Just gathering up dogs and sending them away is not a solution. No one ever got rid of a stray dog problem by doing that."

ATHENS NEWS , 08/10/2004, page: A06
Article code: C13099A061

A TORONTO woman is so upset that officials in Athens are exterminating stray dogs for the Olympic games that she has cancelled a trip she planned to the country. "I don't want to be in a country that would do this, said Janet Geall, who had planned to be in Athens at the end of this month.

Athens officials are reportedly poisoning up to 15,000 stray dogs in the city so the country looks pristine during the games, said Dianne Alden of Greek Animal Rescue Canada, which is working with international animal protection groups to stop the exterminations.

"It's like going to a country where they shuttle the homeless children out of the sight of tourists. I'm surprised that humane societies around the world haven't taken up this cause," said Geall, who works with local cat and dog rescue organizations.

"This is totally cruel. I'm so appalled that I phoned the Greek consulate and left a message. I think if more people knew about this it would stop."

It's not automatic that 15,000 will be killed, says George Ayfantis, spokesman for the Greek Embassy in Ottawa.

Poisoning dogs is considered a minor offence, he said.

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PROTECTION OF PETS AND STRAY ANIMALS IN GREECE

(In summary, those writing these letters in reply to people's concerns have no idea what is happening 'on the ground'.  Do you think for one minute that tens of thousands of stray animals were miraculously taken off the streets and placed in a safe environment during which time they were health checked, sterilized, vaccinated and identified and held until after the Olympic Games?  Or adopted?  There is not even a remote possibility that this could happen ..... so, what alternative do they have if they're not allowed to be on the streets during the games (yet nobody pays any attention to their plight 365 days of the year otherwise?)

**********************

Where have all the dogs gone?

Poisoning eliminated many homeless animals in the years leading up to the Games.  Now, with a week to go, the strays near Olympic venues are being found shelter until all sporting events are over.

Sent off: Stray dogs are being removed from Olympic venues around Greece for the duration of the Games

THE MEDIA have long prophesied a tragic fate for the estimated 25,000 homeless dogs of Attica. One of the latest and most inflammatory claims was made in a July 11 article in the British Sunday Telegraph which stated: "Greeks to poison up to 15,000 stray dogs before the Olympics".

Although local animal welfare groups are quick to note that "traditional" yearly poisoning has depleted the number of strays, particularly in areas such as Schinias, Marathon and Markopoulo, and that a spate of allegedly Olympic-related poisoning did kill off many of the animals in Saronida, they say that the street dogs are now disappearing for a more humane reason: they are temporarily being offered shelter at facilities around Greece until the Olympics and Paralympics are over.

The stray-hosting programme was initiated by the Athens 2004 Organising Committee, which, on April 21, met representatives from welfare organisations based in the 14 municipalities where Olympic events will be held and asked them to assist in a dog-catching and temporary accommodation scheme. The ministry of agriculture followed up with a ministerial decision on June 3 that required local municipalities, in collaboration with welfare organisations, to remove strays from Olympic venues. The law states that, following sterilisation, vaccination and identification, strays will either be rehomed or put back in the area from which they had been collected after the Games.

Venues cleared

"We will be taking in some 185 strays in total from the Equestrian and Shooting centres in Markopoulo, the Rhythmic Gymnastics and Table Tennis centre in Galatsi, the rowing lake at Schinias, the Tae Kwondo complex and the surrounding area in Faliro," says Liana Alexandri of the Hellenic Animal Welfare Society. "These dogs will stay at our Patrikia clinic [in Koropi] until the end of September."

The stray dogs from the areas around the Judo and Wrestling arena in Ano Liosia and the Weightlifting stadium in Nikea are being taken temporarily to the Intramunicipal Clinic and Shelter at Schisto, which will also offer accommodation to dogs from Olympic routes through Agia Varvara, Agios Ioannis Rendis, Drapetsona, Keratsini, Korydallos, Moschato, Nikea, Piraeus, Perama, Haidari and Ilion. A spokeswoman for the clinic told the Athens News that it can host up to around 1,000 dogs on its premises, which have been greatly expanded since the shelter's opening in January 2003.

Around the Athens Olympics Sports Complex (OAKA) in Maroussi, the homeless canines have been gathered up by a municipal team accompanied by a veterinarian and taken to a private kennel and training school near Spata run by Nikos Ioannides. "I will be hosting approximately 40 dogs from the Maroussi area until the end of September," he told this newspaper.

Athens municipality, which has sterilised approximately 600 dogs since its catch-neuter-release programme was launched last November, will gather up strays from the immediate vicinity of the Panathenaic Stadium for the days that the Archery competition and Marathon finish are held there. Tonia Kanellopoulou, the deputy-mayor responsible for the city's stray plan, says that dogs on the roads along which the cycling race will take place may also be gathered up by municipal dog-catching crews and taken for 2-3 days to the 80-capacity kennels near Markopoulo where dogs sterilised under the city programme rest and recuperate. Kanellopoulou stresses that dogs will only be removed if they are considered a problem, and will be kept at the kennels for a minimum number of days.

Vasso Hatzimanoli, responsible for Thessaloniki municipality's stray programme, similarly emphasises that they will only move dogs from the the Olympic football stadium and training grounds if absolutely necessary. "At PAOK [where players will train], there are no dogs; at Iraklis [Kaftanzoglio Stadium, where Olympic matches will be played] there are a maximum of 2-3 dogs, and at Aris [a training ground] there are around 6-8 dogs. If necessary, these dogs will be taken to the Katafygio Zoon sanctuary for the shortest amount of time, then returned," says Hatzimanoli, who volunteers at the shelter and also organises the municipality's catch-neuter-release programme, under which some 1,000 dogs have been sterilised since June 2002.

Welfare workers have expressed concern about the situation in the Olympic city of Iraklio, Crete, but, despite a lack of funds, it appears that the municipality is attempting to find a humane solution to the stray problem. "The dimos is trying to make a shelter, not just for the Olympics but for the future," says Verena Wels, a volunteer at the municipality's makeshift pound. "Around 50-60 dogs are being kept on long chains under the trees in a field, until money can be found to make kennels. It's not ideal, but a veterinarian from the German society Arche Noah visits regularly and municipal workers are there every day from 8am until 7pm." Wels says that many of the strays come from an unlicensed so-called shelter called Dikaioma Zois where the animals were being kept in terrible conditions without any medical care.

Who's paying?

The costs of keeping and feeding strays during the Games are supposed to be covered by the ministry of agricultural development and foods, with funds being channelled through the municipalities.

"The Animal Lovers' Society of Agia Paraskevi had to battle with the municipality to get funding for the temporary hosting of dogs from the Marathon route," says Pat Aravaniti, whose Pallini Animal Farm is taking in 20 dogs for the Agia Paraskevi society until September 7. "But in the end the municipality has agreed to give us a small amount of money for feeding and providing shelter for these dogs." Most of Agia Paraskevi's estimated 100 neutered strays will stay on the streets for the duration of the Games; the 20 going to Pallini are being removed because they might get boisterous and attempt to chase the Marathon runners who will be passing through Agia Paraskevi on August 22 and 29.

Other societies have not been able to come to an agreement about state funding. "We have had many meetings with the municipality," says Dimitris Karabalis of Patra's Archaikos Syllogos society. "They insisted that the strays should be removed from around the Olympic stadium, so I organised for our society to take in around 50 and the shelter based in the University of Patra grounds to take a further 80. But it is proving a tremendous bureaucratic ordeal to get any money to cover our costs of keeping the dogs. The city council will not meet until September to approve or refuse the funding," he continues. "We need the money now. Without it, we cannot afford to collect the dogs, sterilise and vaccinate them, and provide for them until then."

In addition, Karabalis is worried about the long-term effects of temporarily taking in strays. "The solution is not for me to go and gather up a few dogs from around the stadium so that the bureaucrats can get rid of the dogs for a month. It will make more of a problem. Already now, because the municipality has been telling the media that they have reached an agreement with us to pick up dogs from the stadium, we are getting people calling from all over Patra saying, 'I have a dog that I don't want any more; come and get it.' How many dogs are going to be left on the streets now because people have heard someone's collecting up strays?"

ATHENS NEWS , 06/08/2004, page: A10
Article code: C13078A101

GuardianPets@aol.com

Strays are not being poisoned, says minister

CORDELIA MADDEN

DEPUTY Agriculture Minister Alexandros Kontos on July 21 emphatically denied allegations in the British press that Greece's stray dogs are being exterminated ahead of the Games. Responding angrily to a Daily Telegraph article of July 11 entitled "Greeks to poison up to 15,000 stray dogs before the Olympics", Kontos said: "We categorically deny these evil-minded, malicious and unfounded reports that are aimed at libelling our country in the runup to the Games."

The deputy minister pointed out that new legislation to protect companion and stray animals introduced last year requires municipalities to round up homeless dogs and neuter and vaccinate them before release or adoption. He did not, however, mention how many municipalities have actually implemented this programme, nor how many animals have to date been sterilised under the new law. In addition, he noted that poisoning is a crime under Greek legislation. However, despite being a punishable offence since 1981, when law 1197 for the protection of animals was introduced, no poisoner has yet been fined or imprisoned in Greece. [On July 27, a landmark case will be held to judge a man, identified as George Limakis, who illegally entered a neighbour's house in Paleo Faliro and poisoned the Belgian Shepherd dog within. If he is convicted, it will be the first such sentence in Greece.]

The Daily Telegraph piece and the deputy minister's statement, which sparked a lengthy debate on state television channel NET on July 22, reflect the ongoing international interest in the fate of Greece's inestimable number of stray dogs (Attica alone is believed to be home to more than 25,000).

The latest salvo came from as far away as Canada, from within the Greek government's own camp. In an interview with the July 21 edition of the Toronto Sun, George Ayfantis, press spokesman for the embassy of the Hellenic Republic in Ottawa, admitted: "It's not a situation we are proud of. Local officials have extended autonomy and [poisoning is] done at night. It's considered a minor offence and public prosecutors and police don't want to go after elected officials."

ATHENS NEWS , 23/07/2004, page: A08
Article code: C13076A082

Greeks to poison up to 15,000 stray dogs before the Olympics
By David Harrison
(Filed: 11/07/2004)

Thousands of stray dogs will be poisoned ahead of next month's Olympic Games in Athens despite a campaign by the RSPCA to prevent their slaughter.

The animal welfare charity says that the strays will be killed because the Greek authorities fear that the sight of packs of dogs roaming the streets will damage their efforts to use the Games to show the world that their country is modern and civilised.

There are an estimated 15,000 stray dogs in Athens and although the government has taken some action to remove them from the streets without killing them, the RSPCA says that local authorities will not have the resources or the commitment to round up the animals and keep them in shelters during the Games.

Officially, the Greek authorities say that there will be no mass poisoning and the Athens Olympics Committee has asked animal welfare groups to help round up the dogs.

There are however, only one or two shelters in Athens that can take dogs and they are already overcrowded, so the Greeks face a choice of leaving the dogs roaming the streets during the Olympics or poisoning them.

Greece's fledgling animal welfare groups said that the mass slaughter of strays had already begun. Eighty dogs were recently found dead in the coastal resort of Saronida, where some members of the British team are expected to stay.

One animal welfare activist said: "There has been a big increase in poisonings recently and we expect it to rise sharply as the Games get closer. We are doing what we can, with a lot of help from international organisations such as the RSPCA, but we are fighting against a culture that is deeply entrenched." The RSPCA has campaigned hard to improve animal welfare in Greece and in particular to end the practice of poisoning strays to control their numbers.

The Greek government has expressed a desire to give more protection to animals and introduced tougher laws last year. Antonia Kanellopoulou, the deputy mayor of Athens, said: "Stray animals need our love."

The legislation has, however, had little effect and the RSPCA says that many local authorities in Athens and other areas hosting Olympic events will use the traditional method of poisoning the animals to clear the streets before the Games begin on August 13.

David Bowles of RSPCA International, who recently returned from Athens where RSPCA inspectors were training Greek officials to catch and treat strays humanely, said: "We are seriously concerned that thousands of dogs will be poisoned so that Greece can show that Athens is a pristine modern city. They don't have the manpower or the shelters to round up all the dogs. A lot of the local authorities simply don't know how to deal with dogs humanely. We have put a lot of effort into helping them to change their ways, but the results have been very patchy. We would like to see them using private shelters so that all the dogs can be given homes during the Olympics but it looks like that is not going to happen."

Mr Bowles said that mass poisoning was "barbaric" and a "short-term fix" that would not solve the problem of strays. Another senior RSPCA official said: "Greece's success in the European football championships in Portugal and now hosting the Olympic Games has undoubtedly boosted its prestige.

"They are desperate to make a success of the Games coming back to where they started. But they cannot call themselves civilised if they continue to poison dogs."

Carol McBeth, the director of the London-based Greek Animal Welfare Fund, said that she was concerned about many areas outside the centre of Athens. "I think we may see poisonings in the places where the cycling, football and equestrian events are being held," she said.

"They will be very keen to make sure that those areas are clear and they don't have shelters for the dogs."

Poisoning animals is a criminal offence in Greece, but it is such a traditional method of controlling the stray population that many local authorities turn a blind eye to the practice and actively engage in it themselves.

Greece does not have the same tradition of caring for pets as Britain and many animals are dumped when owners become bored with them. It is illegal to have animals put down in Greece and there is no tradition of taking in strays.

The problem has been made worse by a "macho mentality" that finds it "unnatural" to neuter cats and dogs, although a neutering programme introduced by the government has had some success in Athens.

Anastase Scopelitis, the Greek ambassador to London, who is in Greece on holiday, was unavailable for comment. An embassy official said: "Greece takes animal welfare seriously and our government has taken measures to improve our standards."

 As copied from news.telegraph.co.uk

Municipal dog-catchers learn the ropes

While the ministry funds a vanishing act for Greek strays, representatives of local authorities attend an RSPCA seminar on humane trapping techniques

CORDELIA MADDEN

AS THE ministry of agricultural development and foods on June 21 promised 4 million euros towards a programme of sterilisation, vaccination and temporary shelter throughout the Olympics for stray dogs in areas in which Games events will be held, municipal employees and animal welfare representatives attended a seminar to learn how the long-term plan to humanely reduce the homeless canine population can actually be put into practice.

Representatives of ten municipalities - mainly members of animal protection organisations that have been seconded by the local authorities to deal with the stray dogs of each area before the August Olympics - attended the June 21-22 workshop, which was organised, sponsored and presented by the UK-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and held at the Hellenic Animal Welfare Society's (HAWS) Patrikia hospital in Koropi.

David Bowles, head of the RSPCA's international programme, and Carroll Lamport, one of the society's chief inspectors, guided the participants through a crash course in dog behaviour and how to recognise the signs of what a dog is thinking before it acts, how to approach a dog in a humane way that does not put either dog or catcher at risk, how to catch it and what to do with the animal once it's been caught.

"It's a very important time in Greece for strays," Bowles told the assembled group of municipality representatives, Athens International Airport employees, HAWS dog-catchers and veterinarians, and soft toys on whom the methods of grasping and muzzling were tested before the group moved on to real canines.

"Greece has just passed a piece of legislation on stray animals [law 3170, passed in July 2003, which requires municipalities to catch, neuter and release stray dogs] that, in many ways, is better than the nearly 100-year-old legislation we have in the UK. However," Bowles noted, "this law is just a piece of paper unless it is implemented - and that's why we've got you here, to learn how it can be implemented."

While they participated enthusiastically in the seminar, many of the attendees were sceptical as to whether this law ever will be properly implemented by the authorities and whether the legislation is not just a ploy of the agriculture ministry to try and silence critics of Greece's poor animal welfare record. Welfare workers from Glyka Nera and Markopoulo pointed out continuing poisonings of strays in their areas, and Giorgos Papadopoulos from Corinth spoke for many when he voiced concerns that after the Olympics, the law will be forgotten and conditions for animals will be the same, or worse, than before.

Meanwhile the Athens International Airport employees, who are responsible for catching dogs dumped in the airport area and taking them to the HAWS hospital to be neutered and rehomed (re-releasing them at the airport is illegal under law 3170 for safety reasons), felt that they were fighting a losing battle against the number of people who still abandon their pets in the vicinity of the airport - many of whom seem to do so instead of paying to have their dog looked after while they are on holiday.

David Bowles tried to look on the bright side. "During the last ten years that the RSPCA has been working in Greece, there's been a big change in people's attitudes to animal welfare," he told the group.

However, he expressed doubts about the viability of the idea, suggested by the Athens 2004 Organising Committee and, now, funded by the agriculture ministry, of taking strays from areas that will be hosting Olympic events and placing them in shelters or homes for a 45-day period and then put them back on the streets. "Nobody knows the number of animals nor, therefore, how much accommodation is needed," he pointed out. "In addition, no-one knows how the dogs will react when put away and then put out on the streets again."

"I hope that they are not just sweeping the problem under the carpet for the Games," he continued. "This is a long-term problem that needs a long-term solution."

The municipalities represented at the workshop - including Paleo Faliro, Maroussi, Metamorfosi, Peristeri, Glyka Nera, Markopoulo and Corinth - all cooperate with HAWS on humane dog control programmes. The RSPCA had hoped to organise such a seminar with the agriculture ministry that would be open to other municipalities as well, but, Bowles told the Athens News, the ministry showed little interest in the idea and it had to be shelved.

* Collections of strays for municipal neutering schemes are usually done by equipped, trained crews in marked vans. If you see animals being gathered up in a suspicious manner, ask to see some ID, contact your municipality to enquire whether this is a council-approved collection, or ring HAWS on 210-602-0202

ATHENS NEWS , 25/06/2004, page: A08
Article code: C13072A081

A cry of protest against poisoning

ON JUNE 6, 43 animal welfare societies from around Greece are organising a protest against the poisoning of animals. Poisoning continues apace, despite being strictly illegal (it contravenes laws 1197/81 for the protection of animals and 3170/03 for companion and stray animals). In recent weeks, local charities have reported the deaths of 25 animals in Xanthi, 50 in Orestiada, 70 in Saronida, all the pigeons and cats in the area of the Panormou metro station in Athens, most of the strays in Kallithea and Korfos, Corinth, and much of the cat population of Eressos, Lesvos. The demonstration will be held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square at midday. Everyone who cares about the continued killing of both strays and pets with poisoned bait is invited to come and join their voices to a united cry of protest against this barbaric and unlawful practice.

ATHENS NEWS , 04/06/2004, page: A05
Article code: C13069A052

ATHOC to banish strays?

IN YET another about-face on the stray issue, Athens Olympics organisers have decided to clear the streets of all homeless dogs for the duration of the Games.

On April 21, ATHOC called a meeting with representatives of animal welfare organisations and asked them to assist in a dog-catching programme in the 14 municipalities where Olympic events will be held.

ATHOC representatives Katia Petro-poulou, secretary to Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, and Thanassis Kadartzis, negotiator with state and local administration, invited charities to take in strays from the area in which each is based for the two-month period of the Olympics and Paralympics.

"ATHOC says that stray dogs don't suit the cultural image of Athens," says Iasmi Papatheodorou, lawyer to an association of 43 welfare and environmental organisations. "So they are asking for the dogs to be removed from the streets temporarily."

"We were hoping they might provide financial aid to the charities involved, but they say they have no budget for dogs," continues Marina Kollia of St Francis of Assisi animal shelter, one of the 18 charities from the association to attend the ATHOC meeting. "They promised us 160 tonnes of dog food and told us to go to the agriculture ministry for funding."

Yet according to animal protection law 3170 passed in July 2003, municipalities have responsibility for strays, and they have been kept completely in the dark about this plan. Deputy Athens Mayor Tonia Kanellopoulou, who is responsible for implementing the city's catch-neuter-release programme for homeless dogs, says: "ATHOC hasn't told us anything about this."

"We will continue with our sterilisation programme," she vouches. "They cannot forbid dogs in the city of Athens; there will be strays on the streets during the Olympic Games."

Ironically, her words echo those of ATHOC president Angelopoulos-Daskalaki at a June 26 press conference at which she announced a plan of sterilisation, vaccination and re-release for canine without owners.

The proposed scheme overturned the Games organisers' previous plan, presented on February 11, 2003, to incarcerate indefinitely all wandering dogs in a massive shelter that would be built in northern Attica. This announcement caused an outcry and was swiftly repealed.

ATHOC did not respond to Athens News questions in time for this article.

ATHENS NEWS , 23/04/2004, page: A14
Article code: C13063A142

Trikala turns the corner

Formerly condemned by wildlife societies, the central Greek zoo is being spruced up to meet European standards. Work has started to create one of the largest tiger pens on the continent, and over the next two years the facility will be transformed into an extensive educational centre

Trikala Mayor Michalis Tamilos admires the tigers in their current cage, which has been enlarged and fitted with underfloor heating and a double security fence since the animals were moved there in January 2002

ONCE nothing better than a prison for shamefully neglected animals, Trikala Zoo is being revamped into a state-of-the-art education centre and environmental park.

In 2001, a pair of wallabies, a wolf and an elderly lion all died at the miserable facility, and when, in 2002, the agriculture ministry decided to send two tigers confiscated from a visiting circus to the 'unreservedly unsuitable' cage at Trikala Zoo, welfare societies vociferously opposed the move.

But from January 2003, since the election of New Democracy Mayor Michalis Tamilos, the facility has gone from strength to strength. By June 2003, the tigers' cage had been almost doubled in size, the indoor area was equipped with effective underground heating (temperatures in Trikala can drop as low as -24 degrees Celsius), the bathing pool fixed and the tigers put onto a suitable diet.

Now, with the help of David Barnes, head of Animals Amnesty International, and Dominique Tropeano, owner of the UK's Colchester Zoo and an inspector for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), the Trikala municipality has decided to redevelop the zoo as an educational park.

"We want the zoo to be an example to others," Tamilos told the Athens News during a visit to the zoo on March 31. "We want to make the best possible cages for all the animals here; we want to train the staff properly, open a full-time veterinary clinic and set up an education centre so that visitors can learn about the species we have."

As the mayor himself is the first to admit, "No one in Trikala - nor anywhere in Greece - had the knowledge or experience to do this project properly. That's why we called in the experts." Through Barnes, who had been involved with the tigers ever since they were confiscated from the Errani circus in July 2001 for lacking the necessary documents from CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), Tamilos was introduced to Tropeano, who brought in his own architect to draw up plans for the improved, expanded zoo.

"It was important that this was done properly," says Barnes. "Whether the municipality wants to admit it or not, the zoo was a dump before. They were going to redevelop it anyway, and at least now they are doing it the right way."

The municipality officially took over responsibility for the Prophet Ilias hill (upon which the zoo is situated) from the agriculture ministry on March 1. Fences have already been replaced, various buildings have been knocked down and work on a vast new tiger enclosure has started - with the assistance of Barnes, who spent the whole of March at the zoo working side-by-side with the workers.

Tropeano will present his blueprint to the municipality at the beginning of May. "As well as the tiger enclosure, a facility for European wolves and improvements to the existing tiger pen to make it suitable for primates, I am also suggesting a new animal food preparation facility," Tropeano tells the Athens News from Colchester. "The mayor really wants to have a great zoo... We are trying to give professional advice for affordable changes that are within the parametres of what they can achieve given that experience and expertise is low key. We won't suggest anything they cannot cope with," he continues.

The exact cost of the revamp - which is scheduled to be completed by 2006 - is as yet uncalculated, but the municipality has already been approved for a 200,000-euro grant from the Thessaly prefecture, and the council is putting a further 100,000 euros towards the project from its own budget. "With this money we can begin," says Odysseas Raptis, head of planning, coordination and development in the Trikala municipality. "Profits are expected within three years," he continues, "which will be put back directly into the zoo, as no municipality project is allowed to make a profit."

Showpiece tiger pen

David Barnes with the zoo's two rescued ponies. The mare (on the right) has a permanent injury to her left foreleg from her days at Thessaloniki's much-criticised carousel with live ponies

The costliest part of the plan is the new tiger pen which, at 4,300 square metres, will be one of the largest in Europe. The run, which will be grassed over, will be surrounded by a 3m-high wooden fence with occasional viewing windows (to give the tigers privacy), with a fully enclosed low bridge, running across the width of the pen, for visitors to be able to look at the big cats without disturbing them - shouting, throwing objects or food. In addition to at least one bathing pool, the run will feature climbing ramps and other enrichment toys.

"The tiger pen will be the showpiece of the new zoo," says Barnes. "These tigers came from a circus beastwagon; their lives have already improved, and with the next pen, life will be as good as it gets for them."

Sadly, the three-year-old pair are unlikely to live long, as they are both suffering from debilitating genetic hip dysplasia. "They receive painkillers and multivitamins," Barnes says, "but when their hips finally go they will have to be put to sleep." The enclosure won't go to waste though: Tamilos hopes to get a pair of endangered Siberian tigers through an EAZA breeding scheme when and if Trikala Zoo is accepted as a member of the association.

In addition to the tiger area, a large enclosure will be constructed for wolves, and bigger, improved pens will be made for the existing animals and birds - a vulture, two ostriches, an emu, rabbits, four deer, two ponies, rabbits, ducks and various small bird species.

New species brought in to the zoo will be approximately 80 percent indigenous, says Barnes. Likewise, the plants to be established around the facility will be naturally-growing Mediterranean flora.

As the zoo expands, so will its staff. The municipality has already appointed a zoo manager, forest engineer Katerina Papadouli, and two nightwatchmen. A full-time veterinarian and seven zoo workers will be employed as of May 1. Tropeano will arrange for these staff to be trained either at Colchester Zoo or another EAZA-approved facility in the EU.

ATHENS NEWS , 16/04/2004, page: A10
Article code: C13062A101

THE TIMES - 14 April 2004

TWO YEARS AGO I HELPED A STARVING DOG TIED TO A BUSH BY SOME WIRE

Airlift for Stray Dogs in Olympic Race Against Time

Activists have launched a mass evacuation campaign, transporting the strays by plane, train, truck and bus to new homes around Europe.

United against poisoning

In an unprecedented endeavour, 75 welfare societies from around Greece launch a nationwide campaign against the killing of animals with toxin-laced bait

CORDELIA MADDEN

AT MIDDAY on March 27, animal welfare societies from all over Greece will simultaneously launch a massive anti-poisoning campaign. The effort is aimed to concentrate media and public focus on this barbaric practice which, despite being illegal under Greek law since 1981, is still rife in many areas of this country.

Charities from all corners of Greece, from Orestiada to Corfu to Crete, will be handing out leaflets to the public in busy streets and squares, putting up posters and sending press releases to the local media with the message that poisoning is not a solution to the overpopulation of stray dogs and cats. This situation, the campaign literature points out, is largely caused by irresponsible pet owners: "The majority of animals on the streets were once owned, or they are the unwanted progeny of unsterilised pets."

"The point of this campaign," says Carol McBeth of the Greek Animal Welfare Fund, who co-ordinated the movement, "is not only to hit at the poisoners themselves, but also to point the finger at irresponsible dog owners who abandon their dogs, because they are to blame too."

"The aim is to make people aware that it's socially unacceptable - and illegal - to poison animals," says Mary Cochran of Friends of the Cat, "but they also need to realise that dumping animals is wrong and that - although they may imagine they are setting the dog or cat 'free to enjoy a natural life' - in most cases the animal will end up dying a painful death after being poisoned."

The Friends of the Cat volunteers have particular reason to get involved in the anti-poisoning project. Since December 2002, they have seen the population of stray cats that they feed and sterilise in Zappeio and the National Gardens decimated by two poisoning sprees. The first occurred on 31 December 2002, just days before Greece took over the helm of the European Union. More than 40 cats and 18 dogs died after eating food laced with insecticides. In response, protesters took to the streets not only of Athens but also Brussels and London to demonstrate against animal poisonings in Greece. In Brussels, a 48,557-signature petition was handed over to the Greek embassy, calling for an end to poisoning. However, on February 12-13 a further 20 Zappeio cats were killed with poisoned bait.

The agriculture ministry announced that it would conduct a thorough investigation into these mass poisonings and that the perpetrators would be brought to justice, but no culprit has ever been named and shamed. Many believe that it was an inside job, ordered by local authorities eager to present a tidy, animal-free park to the visiting European dignitaries.

In October, a pressure group accused Athens municipality and the Athens Olympics Organising Committee of poisoning some 3,000 stray dogs since December 2002 to 'clean up' the city before the Games. These accusations were categorically denied by both authorities and were also largely dismissed as groundless by most Greek animal welfare groups.

McBeth is quick to stress that the 75 charities involved in this anti-poison campaign are not implicating the government or local authorities. "Although in some areas there are suspicions that the municipalities poison animals, we have no proof," she says.

Indeed, many municipalities are supporting the campaign, McBeth tells the Athens News. Various town halls will be displaying the posters, and on some islands, such as Mytilene and Skopelos, the local charities have come to an agreement with the municipalities to post the anti-poison leaflets along with utilities bills.

ATHENS NEWS , 26/03/2004, page: A14
Article code: C13059A141

Dog owners face fines for unscooped poop

As part of a Clean-up Athens campaign announced by Mayor Dora Bakoyannis on March 23, dog owners who allow their dogs to defecate in public areas will be fined unless they clear up afterwards.

The municipality has yet to decide how much the fines will be, but according to article 12 of the city's waste management bill the amount will double if the dog makes a mess in children's playgrounds or other public areas where children play, in school yards or entrances, outside nursery schools, in the forecourts of churches, in public or state buildings or in archaeological sites.

The regulation will come into effect once details of the fines have been set. Details on who will be responsible for implementing the penalties have not been announced.

The money collected from the fines will go towards the costs of the programme - not, as originally rumoured, to fund the municipality's project of sterilisation and vaccination for the city centre's estimated 5,000 strays.

The new regulation only refers to owned dogs. The droppings of strays are already cleaned up by municipal cleaning teams, the municipality press office said in a statement to the Athens News.

ATHENS NEWS , 26/03/2004, page: A14
Article code: C13059A142

Letters to the editor

No overnight solution to stray over-population

IN REPLY to the letter entitled "Money 'better spent' putting strays to sleep" (January 9). Euthanasia, as a means to get animals off the streets will not solve the problem; other animals (more dogs, rats etc) will move into that same area in no time. Ethically, euthanasia should be used only to end the suffering of the terminally ill (for example, untreatable cases of Kala-azar) and the seriously aggressive; it is not meant for population control.

Getting a handle on the over-population of strays is not a one-step solution. There are several steps in resolving this problem, including people who currently own animals being responsible by spaying/neutering and identifying their own dogs and cats; providing humane education in the school system, beginning as early as age 10; providing low-cost spay/neuter surgery clinics for use by both owners and animal rescue volunteers; and strict enforcement of the recently published law 3170. Any one step mentioned above will not provide a long-term solution.

There is no guarantee how long a stray will survive on the streets, even now. But, if sterilised, it will not be adding to the already out-of-control stray population and in time, in this case likely 7-10 years, there will be a very noticeable and positive improvement for both owned and stray animals in Greece. This has been proven in other countries where they've implemented catch-neuter-release programmes in conjunction with other similar policies.

It won't happen overnight, nor in all of Greece at the same time. But, with education available to both children and adults and cooperation amongst municipalities, veterinarians, animal welfare groups and the general public, life for animals, as well as humans (for example, no longer frustrated or feeling threatened by packs of roaming dogs), can improve dramatically.

The author of the letter, Viv Cole, is a dog owner who has, thankfully, accepted responsibility for her dogs and had them sterilised. By doing so she is part of the solution, not part of the problem, and perhaps, by encouraging others to do the same, she will be helping control the numbers of unwanted litters born and educating the public as well. Thank you, Ms Cole, for setting an example.

Dianne Aldan Greek Animal Rescue, Toronto

Eliminating the gene that makes people dump pets

OVER the last few years I have read time and time again in newspapers horrific stories concerning the treatment - or rather mistreatment - of animals by the Greek people, stories sometimes accompanied by photographs of dogs, in particular, that have been shot, hanged, poisoned or just abandoned to become road kills. I have read letters from as far away as England, Germany, Canada, America and Australia all condemning this revolting treatment of animals, but these are presumably not read by Greek politicians - those who write do not have a vote in Greece so can safely be ignored.

An election has recently been announced, so now is the time for the vociferous writers to the Athens News to re-direct their fire to the politicians and tweak their consciences before the issue is passed by for another four years.

I read in the Athens News of the new law requiring pets to be registered and micro-chipped. Given the forlorn hope that this law will be implemented, there is an opportunity to apply some lateral thinking to the problems condemned by so many writers.

Instead of rounding up and neutering the stray animals (or even putting them down humanely), how about rounding up and neutering the individuals responsible for the horrendous problems they cause? Applying Darwinian principles, if this was done to 'owners' who could not account for the disappearance of their 'pets' then the genes that compel certain Greeks to behave so irresponsibly would be eliminated from the population and the problem would eventually disappear.

Paul Smith Hania, Crete

ATHENS NEWS , 23/01/2004, page: A16
Article code: C13050A161

12m-euro sterilization scheme

Veterinary surgeons said yesterday that government measures to register pets and sterilize strays on Athens’ streets before the Olympics were a step in the right direction and they said they would limit the cost of registering animals.

The Agriculture Ministry issued ministerial orders on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 bringing into effect the recent law concerning pets. These oblige dog owners to register and tag their pets within six months and also demand the collection, registration and tagging of strays. Stray males will be fitted with blue collars and females with red ones.

Lambros Antoniades, general secretary of the Panhellenic Veterinary Surgeons’ Society, told Kathimerini that the Agriculture Ministry’s legislation was a positive move in that it institutionalized a number of steps. He said that owners will have to register their pets and have them fitted with microchips. “On the other hand, strays will be marked by wearing collars made of strong material that will make it evident from a distance that the specific animal has been vaccinated and sterilized,” Antoniades said. “The cost of tagging pet dogs will be 35 euros and there will be a 15 percent discount for dogs beyond the first one,” he said.

The government’s policy will be to sterilize the strays and release them if they are not dangerous to the public. The legislation also establishes rules for setting up animal shelters, but does not state clearly what agencies will be responsible for this. Another ministerial decision approves of credits worth 12 million euros for the creation of shelters, but these funds are for the next three years. For 2003, 1 million euros have been earmarked. This suggests that there is not enough time to deal with the problem of some 5,000 strays in the capital’s streets. One of the decisions refers to “permission for municipalities and animal protection agencies which do not have the necessary infrastructure to cooperate with people or other animal protection groups which do have some space for the animals to stay there a few days until they have recovered (from sterilization) and are returned” to the streets. This means citizens will be asked to provide hospitality to strays until they are set free.

Website designer's note:  The word 'shelter' used in this article does not refer to 'shelters' as we know them to be in North America.  It is their term for what will be 'sterilization clinics'.

October 1, 2003

CITY OF ATHENS ENCOURAGES ALL TO ‘ADOPT A STRAY’

Our four-legged friends ......they follow and keep us company during lonely walks, without our even asking them to do so; they sprawl out on pavements and parks in the winter sun, indifferent to whether they have chosen the entrance to an expensive jewelry store or a simple café or souvlaki stall; they stroll lazily across the street – or sometimes more hurriedly if they see a car coming; the more knowledgeable ones even stand with people at traffic signals, patiently waiting for the light to change so that they can – legally! – cross the road.

They develop their own teams of four-legged friends, and their own favourite hang-outs, staying in groups and marking out their territory; they sit or curl up at our feet, eternally grateful for a stroke, a caress, or something to eat; and each and every one of them has their own particular character…

Be they aristocratic pedigree or street-wise mutt, one thing is certain: they are man’s (and woman’s) best friend and all need

our help and affection..... 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2003

THE CITY OF ATHENS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CELEBRATES AND WORKS FOR “WORLD ANIMAL DAY”

This Saturday, October 4, a fair in honour of World Animal Day is taking place at Klafthmonos Square, on Stadiou Street in central Athens. Around 25 animal welfare groups, non-governmental organizations and other private companies and institutions are taking part. Visitors will be able to obtain information on pet care, animal welfare and how to make a positive contribution to the issue of Athens’ strays.

At around 1pm Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis will meet the press and public there to introduce the City of Athens’ new 1.8 million-euro programme for the protection and care of strays.

MESSAGE FROM ATHENS MAYOR DORA BAKOYANNIS, ON THE OCCASION OF ‘WORLD ANIMAL DAY’

Dear friends,

Our attitude towards the unprotected and stray animals of our city constitutes evidence of our society’s humanitarianism and culture. Phenomena of anti-social behaviour towards stray animals, which have manifested themselves through acts ranging from abandonment to cruel and deliberate poisonings, are offensive to us as citizens and embarrass Greece in the eyes of international public opinion.

The issue of protecting and caring for stray animals requires both individual responsibility and collective action. It is not a problem that we can pass on to others. It is a responsibility that we should all share. We need the active participation of all, based on education, fixed regulations and effective solutions, so that we can eradicate this phenomenon and bring about a change in mentality.

The new local government of the City of Athens, proceeding in a determined and dynamic way, is embarking upon the implementation of an integrated programme of immediate action.

The objective of this programme, for which the sum of 1.8 million euros will be made available, is to create infrastructures for the scientific protection and care of stray animals, their registration and the development of a Data Bank, and especially to develop special activities aimed at sensitising, informing and educating the public with the ultimate goal of encouraging the “adoption” of stray animals by our citizens.

The City of Athens is taking a stand. It is doing so by creating a framework of rules, regulations and principles. I must stress that the success of the programme relies on the active participation and positive response of our citizens. The effective protection of and help for the stray animals depends on the education, humanitarianism and attitude of each and every one of us as individuals. It relies on the way each one of us behaves towards the strays of his/her neighourhood and towards his/her very own household pet.

I call upon the women and men of Athens to participate and support our programme for the provision of care for unprotected, stray animals.

With best regards,

Dora Bakoyannis

THE CITY OF ATHENS, 1.8 MILLION EURO, 10-POINT ACTION PLAN FOR STRAY ANIMALS

OUR SLOGAN: “ADOPT AN ATHENS STRAY. SAVE A LIFE. They are the best and most loyal friends and company for all ages...”

The City of Athens local government intends to:

1. Collect, sterilise, inoculate, clean of parasites and in general provide all necessary care for the strays. It will then undertake to promote their long-term well-being through the Adoption Programme or, if no-one adopts them, to place them back in their original environment where they were found.

2. Five-thousand strays will be electronically registered and tagged (electronically traceable number tags) and a Data Bank created. The registration process is animal-friendly, facilitates immediate identification by the City authorities of those animals it monitors, and will put an end to possible hygiene fears that certain citizens may harbour.

Cost of programme: 50,000 euros.

3. It is establishing two fully equipped and staffed Municipal Veterinary Clinics, aimed at providing all necessary veterinary services for stray animals of the city.

Each clinic is projected to serve the needs of 1,500 animals per year.

Cost of programme:  560,000 euros

4. It is also cooperating with two other veterinary clinics, for the immediate coverage of the increasing needs to shelter and provide care for strays throughout the City of Athens area. These independent clinics have the capacity to host an additional 2,000 stray animals every year.

Cost of programme: 400,000 euros

5. It is renting a special area for the immediate hosting and daily care of 100 animals which are at a stage of recovery, after being sterilised, suffering injury or undergoing minor surgery or other treatment.

Cost of two-year programme: 430,000 euros

6. It is forming special units, with specialised staff, to collect the strays. These units then promote the strays onto the Care Programme and then the Adoption Programme.

7. Similarly, it is developing a network of volunteers, the task of which is to sensitise, inform and encourage the public to proceed with the adoption of strays.

8. It is planning a programme for the training of stray animals, so they can assist the elderly or people with a disability.

9. It is cooperating with the Attica Veterinary Society for Small Animals, which offers substantial discounts for its veterinary services.

10. In particular, the City of Athens is forging ahead with the VOLUNTARY ADOPTION PROGRAMME. This is a two-level programme, primarily aiming at ‘Permanent Adoption’ or, failing this, at ‘Adoption for a Limited Time Period’.

The value of permanent adoption is self-evident, considering that the average life expectancy of a stray is only two years, while household pets live up to 18 years.

To make these twin adoption campaigns more effective, the City of Athens reminds well-intentioned citizens that, after the local government provides the aforementioned electronic registration, medication and sterilisation, stray animals will then need a place to live, food, water, and, above all, love and affection.

For those citizens who can only provide temporary shelter and care, the strays will then be returned to their natural habitat from where they were originally collected.

The overall cost of this 10-point programme is estimated at 1,782,000 euros, to cover the needs of about 5,000 strays. This cost will be shared between the central government (1 million euros) and the City of Athens local government (782,000 euros).

Animals Abroad: Greek Tragedy Will animals lose at the 2004 Olympics? By Genevieve Rajewski Visitors to Greece have long been shocked at scenes of animal cruelty and neglect amidst the beauty of the country’s sun-drenched islands and ancient ruins, where stray cats and dogs forage for food, dodge cars and suffer at the hands of those who consider them vermin. Now, as Athens plans to host the 2004 Olympics, their plight has garnered significant attention. The number of stray dogs and cats in Greece is staggering—an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 throughout the country, with 30,000 to 90,000 in and around Athens. Pet sterilization is regarded as unnatural, and abandonment is all too common. Greece lacks a well-established shelter system, and people rarely adopt animals from the few shelters that do exist. Though illegal, various methods of killing—including poisons and glass shards concealed in meat—are commonly used to eliminate strays. The crime is so pervasive that owners of companion animals often stock drugs to induce vomiting or to otherwise counteract deadly poisons. Because the culprits operate under the cover of darkness, killers of both household pets and strays are rarely brought to justice. A Race Against Time As Athens prepared to host the 2004 Olympics, many feared poisonings would accelerate, as the presence of strays would likely concern those wanting to make a good impression upon foreign visitors. Eighty animal welfare groups united to implore the Greek government to humanely tackle the issue of strays—before others took matters into their own hands. Initially, the government proposed the creation of subsidized shelters. However, 31 Greek animal welfare organizations signed a petition protesting this approach. They felt that it was, at best, a short-term fix. Given the public’s lack of interest in pet adoption, the plan would only lead to the widespread euthanasia of strays. In November 2002, the United Kingdom-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) sponsored a meeting of more than 40 animal welfare groups to present a proposal to the Greek government, the European Commission, the International Olympic Committee and the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee. The Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), an organization that provides practical assistance and awards grants to further humane initiatives in Greece, led the discussion of viable approaches to solving the animal overpopulation problem. Three poisoning incidents at two national parks in Athens demonstrated the urgency of a solution. The parks—the National Gardens and Zappeion—were home to roughly 170 stray cats. Carol McBeth, director of the GAWF, says, “These cats are fed every day by a society called Friends of the Cat. They’re all neutered. They’re all vaccinated. Tourists like the cats. Greek people have their favorite one or two cats that they feed.” The first poisoning killed 40, as well as 18 dogs. “Everybody was shocked,” recalls McBeth. As a result, in January, 3,000 people participated in the city’s largest animal welfare demonstration to date. Still, two more incidents followed, killing another 40 cats. On all three occasions, the poison—but not the responsible party—was found. Because the crimes occurred within days of Greece assuming presidency of the European Union, there were suspicions that the animals were removed in anticipation of visits from European politicians. Steps in the Right Direction On July 7, 2003, the Greek Parliament passed the Companion Animals and Stray Animals Law Number 3710, instituting a campaign to promote responsible pet ownership and an initiative to sterilize and then release strays. The law also contains a humane education component, designed to introduce children to the responsibilities of pet ownership. “In general, it is a good law,” says McBeth. “One of the most important articles is the introduction of compulsory microchipping and registration. Hopefully, this will stop many people from abandoning their animals, and the people who do will be able to be traced and found.” Municipalities will assume responsibility for catching, sterilizing and releasing strays. According to McBeth, sterilization/release programs—which have been employed in scattered areas of Greece for the last 10 years—have proven effective. As an example, she cites Agia Paraskevi, a suburb of Athens, where the Friends of the Animals Association cares for about 100 stray dogs. All of them are neutered, receive vaccinations annually and wear identification tags with their names and the phone number of the Friends of the Animals. “It really does work,” reports McBeth. “There hasn’t been a poisoning for nearly three years, and there is a healthy street population.” It is unclear how the local-authority programs will be financed. When the bill was first drafted, it included a provision requiring an annual dog license fee, which would help fund sterilization/release programs; it was dropped, however, due to protests from dog owners. The law does mandate fines for citizens who don’t microchip their dogs and, importantly, introduces new, stiffer penalties for animal cruelty, including acts of poisoning. Unfortunately, reminds McBeth, “With poisonings, we never get any proof.” Also complicating enforcement is the absence of animal protection agencies to investigate reports of abuse or neglect. Instead, concerned individuals must sue those guilty of harming animals. Doing so can have repercussions on their livelihood or personal life, including retaliatory acts against their own pets. McBeth admits that there are still many barriers to overcome. “It’s overwhelming at times,” she says, “but things are changing.” In several cities, local humane organizations are now at work. In addition, media coverage of animal abuse is increasing. “Fifteen years ago, you wouldn’t hear anything about poisoned animals, about dogs being hung…now, this is big news.” Progress, if slow, is encouraging. “We’ve gone forward in the last 10 years,” says McBeth. “It’s going to take another 10, even 20. But as long as we’re going forward, that’s all we can do.”   AW Genevieve Rajewski is a freelance writer residing in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Published November 2003.       · Editor's Desk  · President's Comment  · Cover Story:     A No-Kill Nation  · Animal Watch Photo Contest:    Free Time, Me Time  · Feature:     Christmas  · Feature:     For the Birds  · ASPCA News:    Historic Preservation Fund  · Behavior  · Relationships  · Companion Lines  · Learning to Care  · Science Watch  · Shelter Spotlight  · Animals Abroad  · Health:    Holiday Hazards  · Law:     A Sickening Sight     Cruel Compulsions In the suburb of Agia Paraskevi, strays are cared for by Friends of the Animals. Photo Credit: Tim Phillips/GAWF   What You Can Do Voice your concern for the welfare of homeless animals in Athens by e-mailing the Greek National Tourism offices of the United States at info@greektourism.com. Write to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (attention: General Secretary’s Office, Mitropoleos 15, Athens 10185, Greece) and urge the inclusion of humane education into school curricula. Visit the website of Greek Animal Rescue (www.garcanada.bizland.com) to learn about their Sponsor a Stray program. For more information, visit the websites of the GAWF (www.gawf.org.uk) and Friends of the Cat  (www.friendsofthecat.com). ___________________________________________________________

Hounded Greece says stray dogs have had their day Mail this story to a friend | Printer friendly version GREECE: December 20, 2002 ATHENS - Greece moved on Thursday to keep a tight leash on the growing number of urban stray dogs ahead of the Athens Olympics without upsetting animal-lovers. Rather than put down hundreds of dogs that roam Athens' streets, authorities are to sterilise the animals and release them again if owners are not found, Deputy Agriculture Minister Fotis Hatzimichalis told reporters.   In other measures, the ministry plans to charge a fee of 300 euros (correction - approx 16 euros) to register pets. And it will be the dog-house for pet owners who release their animals because they no longer want them - they face new fines.   Athens, which will host the 2004 Olympic Games, is home to thousands of stray cats and dogs that roam freely through the city, including around its main central square. City authorities said last year as many as 3,000 dogs were loose in the capital. Former French film star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot wrote to the Greek president a year ago, urging him to muzzle plans to exterminate the stray dogs. "This is our answer to those who with malice accused our country of creating crematoria of stray dogs ahead of the Olympic Games," Hatzimichalis said. Local people cite a boom in the city's dog population in the 1990s when residents, fearful of an influx of refugees from unrest in neighbouring Balkan nations, went on a buying spree for fearsome guard dogs. When anxieties receded with the end of the Balkan wars, many unwanted large dogs like German Shepherds were released onto the streets. The animals have become so used to life in central Athens that many of them wait at traffic lights like pedestrians to cross busy streets when the green light shows. The new measures are in a draft bill, soon to be presented to parliament, which is guaranteed to be made law because of the ruling Socialist Party's hefty majority. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ===================================================================== A dog's breakfast of a bill THERE will be no cull of Greece's stray dogs and cats before the Athens Olympics in 2004, Deputy Agriculture Minister Fotis Hadjimichalis said on December 19 after unveiling the ministry's long-awaited draft bill concerning stray and companion animals. Instead, the bill, which the minister presented as the "practical response to those who alleged that our country would become a cemetery for stray animals in view of the Olympic Games", outlines a more humane plan for the long-term reduction in the numbers of abandoned animals on the streets. Each municipality or community, with the help of animal welfare organisations and veterinary services, will have trained personnel round up, sterilise and vaccinate all stray dogs in their respective areas. The animals will then be taken to shelters and, following sterilisation and vaccination, if deemed healthy, will be offered for adoption. Dogs that are dangerous, seriously ill, disabled or very old will be euthanised. Those with curable diseases, however, will be treated. In cases where animals are not adopted, local governments may decide to release the animal back where it was picked up from (with the exception of areas close to hospitals, schools, airports or highways). In addition to the clauses concerning animals already on the streets, the bill reinforces the 1997 law for the protection of animals, which sets strict fines for people who abandon their pets. Equally, those who use dogs in dog fights or in any other events that cause pain or death to an animal are liable to harsh penalties. The bill, which still needs to be passed by parliament, also requires the compulsory identification and registration of all stray and owned companion animals as well as an annual licence fee to be paid to the municipality or community by every pet owner. Funds raised will go towards sterilisation programmes and for the upkeep of the shelters. Owners of police dogs, sniffer dogs, guide dogs for the blind, shepherd dogs used for the guarding of flocks and dogs adopted from shelters are exempt from the licence fee. Humane education about the love and care of animals is also an integral part of the bill, Hadjimichalis said. ATHENS NEWS , 20/12/2002 , page: A07 Article code: C12993A074 Bill offers hope for strays The agriculture ministry's new legislation proposes to let sleeping dogs lie - once they have been sterilised, checked for diseases, vaccinated and microchipped. But what about the funding? BY CORDELIA MADDEN A RATHER stout fawn mixed-breed dog trots purposefully along the pavement of Kaisariani's main avenue. She is on her way to the local butcher, who every morning provides her with a generous pig's trotter. This she carries carefully all the way up to the park where she sleeps, a secluded, comfortable place where she will be able to enjoy the bone at leisure. Her routine is the same every day. Animal welfare workers, veterinarians and others involved with stray dogs in Greece believe that such animals, which are sterilised, provided for by kindly individuals or charities, and cause no trouble to anyone, should be able to continue living on the streets. The only problem was that until now the authorities disagreed. Previous plans floated by the agriculture ministry, which is responsible for the stray animal population, focused on the construction of shelters to house all the homeless dogs of Attica (believed by the Hellenic Veterinary Association to number around 25,000). The necessity, authorities stressed, was to clear the streets of animals. Animal welfare activists argued that these shelters would be nothing more than concentration camps, as only a minimal number of animals would be rehomed and the vast majority would have to be euthanised. In addition, they said, taking all the dogs off the streets would not signify an end to the problem, as World Health Organisation figures demonstrate that those animals remaining (bearing in mind that owned dogs and their offspring would continue to be abandoned) reproduce to fill the void, bringing the stray population back to the same number as before in a short period. What most animal welfare organisations pushed for was a neuter and release programme for all strays. It seems the ministry has seen the light. The draft bill for animals publicised on December 19 outlines a plan of vaccination, sterilisation, identification and release for stray dogs. Street canines will be gathered up by trained municipal workers, according to the bill, taken to purpose-built centres for examination for disease and, if deemed healthy enough, vaccinated, treated for parasites, sterilised, microchipped [the insertion of a tiny chip in the back of an animal's neck, in which all necessary health information is stored] and put back, after a recovery period, in familiar territory. Those testing positive for diseases such as Kala-azar and the very old, disabled or aggressive will be humanely euthanised. "This bill is definitely a step in the right direction," says Costas Handras, president of the Hellenic Veterinary Association. "For the first time, the law says that dogs can be released back on the streets after necessary veterinary treatment." He believes that it was high time the authorities realised that "a vaccinated, sterilised, healthy stray dog is not a negative thing. As long as it is fed and cared for, there is no reason why it should not exist." Municipal clinic for strays The first sterilisation centre constructed to fit the new bill opens on January 15 in the Schisto area, between Keratsini and Perama. It can process up to 300 dogs at a time in a 5,000sqm area and includes a clinic manned by private vets, kennels, outdoor exercise areas for the dogs and an education centre for visitors. Grigoris Gourdomihalis, president of the centre, tells the Athens News: "It is really a refuge, clinic and rehabilitation centre for strays [rather than a shelter as the draft bill somewhat misleadingly refers to such centres]. Dogs will be brought in for medical care and examination and will then be put back where they came from. Some may be rehomed instead of going back on the streets, but we will have a careful screening process for potential owners in order to ensure that each dog goes to a loving, permanent home." The legislation details that dogs should not be released in the vicinity of schools, hospitals, airports or main roads. It also states that dogs will be released by agreement with each municipality. Carol McBeth of Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF) foresees problems with this. "In animal-friendly municipalities, such as Agia Paraskevi or Filothei, this system is fine, but if the local authorities do not want dogs in their area, there is nothing in the bill to stop them refusing to have the animals back... Which would mean euthanasia for those dogs." The draft bill obligates owners to permanently identify - microchip or tattoo - their dogs and cats. Handras notes the importance of this. "Lost pets can be reunited with their owners, and those who abandon their animals can be duly punished. Breeders are also required to microchip puppies and kittens before selling them." Licence fee fiasco Originally, the bill obliged all owners to pay an annual licence fee for keeping a dog, with the exact sum undisclosed. The money collected from this fee would have gone towards the costs of the sterilisation clinics for strays. However, due to protests from pet owners, the ministry scrapped the idea of a paying licence on December 20. "Doing away with the licence seriously damages the programme," says McBeth. "Now where will the money come from? Such sterilisation centres are extremely costly. The ministry has cut out an important part of the bill for the sake of a few people who threatened to dump their dogs at the thought of paying a minimal sum every year. If they care that little for their dogs, they would have dumped them anyway when the family went on summer holiday." Gourdomihalis is also concerned about funding for this bill. "It can cost up to 100 euros per dog for a medical examination, vaccination, sterilisation and inserting a microchip. We will try to bring the cost down as much as possible, but it is still an expensive process. Although our centre is complete and ready to open this month, we have still not seen any money from the agriculture ministry." Handras points out that every animal owner already pays eight percent tax on each visit to the veterinarian. He asks why this money could not be used by the ministry to fund the sterilisation and identification programme. The draft bill also enforces Article 8 of 1981 Law 11/97 for the protection for animals in its penalty fines for owners who dump their dogs and for people who mistreat, torture or poison animals. It also levies stringent fines or imprisonment for those involved in dog fights. Breeders and pet shops selling live animals are required to obtain a permit from the ministry, and it forbids the sale of animals under seven weeks old. Owners of female dogs must be certain of sufficient homes for all the puppies, and if not, pregnancy must be avoided by sterilisation. Still in discussion and not covered by the draft bill is the matter of whether an incinerator will be built for hygienic disposal of dead animals (at present, due to pollution laws on burning waste in Attica, dead dogs and cats are left to rot on rubbish heaps); the so-called apartment building law whereby residents of a block of flats can overrule the law stating every citizen's right to two animals; and the issue of whether animal wardens will be created or, if not, who will actually be in charge of implementing the legislation. ATHENS NEWS , 03/01/2003 , page: A09 Article code: C12995A091 Following is my letter to the Editor of The Athens News in response to this article (published in the January 10th edition).  Also below are letters from other concerned citizens. ========================= Animal bill raises many questions DEPUTY Agriculture Minister Fotis Hadjimichalis' announcement that there would be no cull of Greece's stray dogs and cats ("A dog's breakfast of a bill", December 20) is welcome news to all who are concerned over the plight of animals in Greece. It is also positive news that the new bill will place significant responsibility on pet owners as many strays are the result of owners not spaying/neutering their dogs and cats and then allowing them to roam, producing new litters. On the other hand, there are already animal protection laws within Greece; however, these laws are not enforced. When someone approaches an official to file a complaint, they are often laughed at, intimidated and forced to back down with threats made against themselves or their animals. Even if the required complaint forms are filled out, they are often tossed in a desk drawer and forgotten about. What, in this new bill, is going to change that attitude? Many animals, both owned and strays, die a terrible death from random poisoning or shooting. What, in this new bill, will prevent these cruel acts from still occurring if the laws are not enforced? And who will be responsible for enforcing these more stringent laws when current ones are ignored? The annual licence fee mentioned in the bill was quashed only one day after the bill's announcement because of public outcry from pet owners. This action alone adds concern as to just how serious the agriculture ministry is in implementing and enforcing this new legislation on pet owners. How do they plan to pay for expenses associated with caring for the strays? Fees derived from dog and cat ownership registration, identification and providing veterinary services would be an excellent means to generate funds that could be put back into the animal care system. Any responsible pet owner would be understanding of the need to help the strays and would not resent the annual fee. Registering your companion animal is mandatory here in Canada and is not met with resentment. Currently in Greece there is no sound infrastructure - veterinary care facilities to perform sterilisation, implant microchips, treat animal illnesses/injuries and perform humane euthanasia when necessary; competent staff such as trained animal control officers and small-animal vets - to care for such a large number of animals and, needless to say, this plan will fail without sufficient start-up costs and ongoing funding. Where are these funds going to come from? How is this bill going to receive support from the people of Greece? Current attitudes do not predict a positive response or acceptance; the uproar over the annual licence fee is just one example of their indifference to animals in general. This is likely the only and last chance for the ministry to have a positive impact on Greek communities regarding responsible pet ownership and implementing an efficient and humane means of controlling the stray population. I do hope they succeed and, finally, compassion and a caring attitude is achieved for all animals in Greece. Dianne Aldan Volunteer fundraiser, Greek Animal Rescue Toronto, Ontario Anti-cruelty laws must be enforced AS AN active volunteer and member of the Cowichan Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, I am very concerned about the current plight of homeless dogs and cats in your country. I do hope that Greece will work to enforce anti-cruelty laws, especially in the area of street animals. It is difficult for civilised countries to imagine such barbarity towards homeless, helpless street dogs and cats. Such things as being beaten and tied up in the hot sun with no access to food, shelter or water are primitive and savage acts that reflect badly on your country and its citizens. As a teacher, I will be encouraging students to boycott your country until this unconscionable situation is rectified. This would give your country considerable more respect in the eyes of the civilised world. Luree Dell-Bryan Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Hands-on assistance needed for strays I AM an Italian-American former resident of Greece and I write to you with grave concern about animal protection in Greece. Legislation under consideration for passage into law ("Bill offers hope for strays", January 3), I am afraid will be sneered upon, as are most edicts enacted by lawmakers in Greece. Firstly, Greeks in general are not an animal-friendly populace. They never have been and never will be. Secondly, the proposals stated therein will never be successfully implemented without much needed guidance and management from animals rights professionals from Europe and the United States. Greece is a spectacularly beautiful country, abounding with hospita lity for the foreign tourist, grasping for euros and dollars. But, alas, it offers no hospitality and certainly no protection for the abandoned and abused domestic animals. While intentions may be decent, so as not to call forth the venomous response of an animal-oriented world society, Greece's plan for the animals is a bit like the Communist Manifesto - looks good on paper, stinks in practice. Shall we swallow pride, and call upon the worldwide animal protection societies for "hands-on" assistance? I know that the Greek government is acting upon some of the recommendations of WSPA (The World Society for the Protection of Animals), but unfortunately, WSPA is not getting its collective overalls dirty in the streets of Greece where these innocent, unfortunate creatures live, suffer and die from poisoning with strychnine, pesticides, herbicides and meat filled with glass shards. I am grasping to infuse a modicum of courtesy into my letter, but it is very difficult after a 14-year stint in Greece. I witnessed enough animal cruelty to last me countless incarnations. It is disgraceful that a nation of such historical magnificence would insist upon perpetuating the actions and postures of a Neanderthal society. I beg you, on bended knee, to further the cause of animals in your nation. Marijo Anne Gillis New York Editor: In fact, WSPA's proposal, made at the January 22, 2002 seminar for Greek officials on humane stray dog control, included an extended visit by experienced, trained members of the organisation to work with authorities here. This proposition was ignored by the Greek government. Boycotting Greece until poisoning stops I AM writing to express my outrage at the barbaric murders of stray cats and dogs in Greece ("Poisoning in the park", January 3). I have spent many vacations in your otherwise beautiful country, the thought of which is tainted by the innocent blood which runs in your streets. How a country which is the seat of so much culture and philosophy including that of our modernday ethics can allow such atrocities to occur is beyond me. My family and I will not attend the Olympics or spend any money or time in Greece until this national disgrace is remedied and some compassion is demonstrated. CA Tavani Wilmington, Delaware ATHENS NEWS , 10/01/2003 , page: A19 Article code: C12996A191   Poisoning in the park AT LEAST fourteen dogs and between 30 and 70 cats were poisoned in the National Gardens and Zappeion on December 30-31, the Friends of the Cat charity reported on December 31. Members of the charity, who feed the cats in the gardens every day, discovered the bodies of eight stray dogs and two cats on the morning of December 30, and the following day another six dead dogs and at least 30 cats were found. A further 40 cats were still missing on December 31 when Ioanna Christoforos of the charity spoke to the Athens News. "Cats tend to go and hide when they are dying," she explained, "so it could take some time to find all the bodies." The group recovered four boxes of meat believed to be the poisoned substance and will take it for laboratory analysis. The police have been informed, as poisoning animals is a punishable crime under Greek law 11/97 for the protection of animals. Aristidis Fatouros, director of the National Gardens, was on holiday and unavailable for comment on December 31. One of his aides told the Athens News that the office was unaware of the poisoning, despite the fact that television cameras gathered in the gardens on the morning of December 31 to film the carnage. The majority of cats living in the National Gardens and Zappeion had been neutered, vaccinated, provided with any medical care necessary and wormed by the Friends of the Cat charity. ATHENS NEWS , 03/01/2003 , page: A09 Article code: C12995A091 Demonstrate against poisoning THIRTY-ONE Greek societies for the protection of animals and the environment are holding a demonstration on January 12 to protest against the recent poisonings in the National Gardens and Zappeio that left at least 18 dogs and more than 40 cats dead. One of the societies, St Francis of Assisi, is offering a 1,500 euro reward to anyone who can give information as to who was responsible for the massacre. Members and supporters of the charities will be gathering at 11.30am at the Cafe Oasis on Amalias Avenue (opposite St Paul's Anglican Church) to call for humane methods of stray animal control such as sterilisation, instead of the cruel, illegal and very common practice of extermination by weed killer, rat poison or ground glass added to meat. All those who wish to show their opposition to poisoning are asked to join the demonstration. ATHENS NEWS , 10/01/2003 , page: A07 Article code: C12996A073   Sunday, 12 January, 2003, 16:22 GMT Greeks protest at stray dog cull Several hundred animal rights activists in Greece have staged a protest in Athens after accusing the city authorities of killing dozens of stray dogs ahead of an EU meeting. Activists say the dogs were poisoned ahead of last Friday's visit to the city by the European Commission's President Romano Prodi and other senior EU officials. The city authorities in Athens have yet to comment on the allegations. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service ______________________________________________   AP World Politics Animal rights activists protest alleged killing of stray dogs ahead of Greece's EU presidency Sun Jan 12, 6:09 AM ET ATHENS, Greece - Hundreds of animal rights activists protested Sunday in central Athens against last week's alleged killing of stray dogs ahead of Greece's European Union presidency. "This is how the Greek presidency of Europe will be for the dogs," read a banner that displayed photos of poisoned stray dogs. "The protection of stray animals is an act of civilization," said another. Protesters and their dogs gathered outside the Zappeion Conference Hall, where several EU ministerial meetings were held over the weekend. They ended a protest march at the nearby parliament building. Activists claim that dozens of stray dogs roaming the vast gardens surrounding Zappeion Hall were poisoned ahead of last Friday's visit to Athens by European Commission President Romano Prodi and other senior EU officials. There was no way to independently confirm their claim. City officials have not commented on the allegation.

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Protest against poisoning gains mass support

THOUSANDS of animal lovers, charity workers and welfare activists gathered in central Athens on January 12 to protest the poisoning of some 40 cats and 18 stray dogs on December 30-31 in Zappeio, the National Gardens and Syntagma Square.

Probably the largest demonstration ever to take place in this country for animal welfare issues, the protest was organised by a group of 33 animal charities from throughout Greece, who called on every caring citizen to join them in their rally against the cruel and unlawful killings of Athens' strays.

Those gathered at the meeting point on Amalias Ave outside the entrance to Zappeio, many of whom carried banners, included people of all ages (from a three-month-old baby to a 97-year-old woman), and were estimated by Eleftherotypia newspaper to number between 3,000 and 4,000.

Magda Tornazaki of Friends of the Cat, the charity that undertakes the daily feeding and medical care of the colony of abandoned cats in the National Gardens and Zappeio, told the Athens News: "It was an amazing turnout. Every society and every animal lover was invited and there was a very encouraging response. Poisoning is one issue against which everyone is united."

She added: "This demonstration showed that Greeks are not prepared to put up with poisoning any longer." But it seems her belief is not shared by the competent authorities. According to the Athens daily Ta Nea, no one has yet ordered any inquiry to track down and bring to justice those responsible for the killings.

The poison, which was administered in the form of pesticide concealed in tinned cat food, was laid out on December 30-31, the final days before Greece took over the mantle of the EU presidency for six months, around the area of the Zappeio Conference Hall, one of Athens' key venues for EU ministerial meetings.

It appears to be no coincidence that the last time Greece held the EU presidency (January-June 1994), there was a similar occurrence. Members of Friends of the Cat who used to feed in the early '90s remember that at the end of December 1993 there was also a mass poisoning of cats and dogs in the area of Zappeio and the National Gardens. The case was reported to the police at the time.

The feeling among the protesters that there certainly was a direct link between such official events and the massacre of strays was mirrored in a banner reading "Is this the road to 2004?" and bearing pictures of poisoned dogs. Through this and other banners as well as impromptu speeches, the protesters expressed their, and many Greeks', fear that the road to the Athens Games will be marred by similar barbaric 'cleansing' of Athens and other Greek city streets.

The protesters marched down Amalias Ave to the parliament building and then on to the residence of Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni on Aravantinou St, at the other side of Zappeio. A delegation of the marchers was received by Bakoyianni's son, Costas Bakoyiannis, and a meeting with the mayor was arranged for the following day, January 13.

During the meeting, Bakoyianni told an eight-member delegation of animal welfare activists that she intended to set up an independent municipal veterinary clinic where, under the supervision of the animal charities, strays would be vaccinated and neutered. Tornazaki of Friends of the Cat, who was part of the delegation that attended the meeting, said it was a "positive" step.

No officials from the Athens or any other municipality or from the Athens 2004 Organising Committee joined the demonstration. It was, however, attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Loverdos, MP George Karatzaferis, former minister and analyst Andreas Andrianopoulos and British Ambassador to Greece David Madden, who conveyed a message of solidarity to the protesters, and his wife.

ATHENS NEWS , 17/01/2003 , page: A09
Article code: C12997A092

First clinic for stray dogs opens

A state-run centre created by seven municipalities promises to sterilise,vaccinate and provide medical care for the homeless canines of western Attica.

BY CORDELIA MADDEN

STRAY and abandoned dogs in the western Attica area are to be offered medical care and sterilisation at a purpose-built state-run clinic that opened near Piraeus on January 15. The Intra-municipal Centre for the Care of Stray Animals - a joint project by the municipalities of Piraeus, Nikea, Keratsini, Korydallos, Haidari, Agia Varvara, Perama, Agios Ioannis Rendis and Drapetsona - promises to give needy stray dogs all necessary medical care, vaccination and identification by microchip, as well as sterilisation for male dogs.

The centre, which is located close to the Athens-Corinth National Road in the vicinity of Schisto, boasts state-of-the-art indoor kennelling for up to 200 dogs, a small outdoor exercise yard, a fully-equipped clinic, a room for humane education instruction for school group visits and two Fiat Ducato vans furnished with transport cages and equipment for catching stray dogs.

It lacks, however, sufficient staff. Grigoris Gourdomihalis, president of the centre, says that the current employees - one cleaner and a part-time veterinary surgeon who works on a voluntary basis - will soon be joined by other paid workers (the number depending on the money available from municipal and agriculture ministry coffers). He hopes to attract many more volunteers, particularly from local animal welfare societies.

The centre was inaugurated by Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis, who told the gathered crowd of municipal employees, journalists, animal protection workers and schoolchildren that this project is an "exceptional example of sensitivity" towards Greece's often maltreated stray animal population. He made it clear that the idea was not to incarcerate animals nor to euthanise them, saying, "We don't want to change the fact that there are strays on the streets, because a city loses a part of its life without strays, but we do want to take the civilised step of providing strays with medical care."

Fotis Hadjimichalis, deputy agriculture minister, was also scheduled to make a speech at the opening ceremony, but he did not turn up.

Although the centre had not officially opened to canine visitors, 14 puppies had been dumped on January 14 at the centre's gates. These puppies, several of which appeared sickly, were all enclosed together in a section of the earth-floored exercise area. Animal welfare workers present commented on the folly of putting all the puppies together on a surface that can never be disinfected, rather than kennelling the litters separately in quarantine areas.

Outside the perimeter fence of the centre, animal rights extremists waved black flags and harassed guests at the opening. These protesters believe that all dogs taken into the centre will be killed.

ATHENS NEWS , 17/01/2003 , page: A09
Article code: C12997A091

Zappeio animal poisonings continue

AT LEAST 20 cats have been poisoned in Zappeio and the National Gardens, despite international condemnation of the previous extermination which left 40 cats and 18 dogs dead on New Year's Eve.

At least 12 cats died on the nights of February 12 and 13 after cat-food laced with poison (organophosphate) was distributed on the Amalias Avenue side of Zappeio park. The bodies of eight more felines have since been found poisoned in the National Gardens. Mary Cochran from Friends of the Cat, the charity which sterilises, takes care of and feeds the colony of cats in both Zappeio and the National Gardens, says that they are still finding portions of poison; the most recently discovered dose was laid out within a stone's throw from the children's playground in Zappeio.

"Whoever did this is not only inhumane but also has no respect whatsoever for their country," Cochran says. "Greece has already got into so much trouble around the world for the New Year's poisonings."

The previous carnage occurred just days before Greece took over the EU presidency on December 30-31 outside Zappeio Hall - a key venue for EU meetings. Authorities denounced the poisoning, and the agriculture ministry is said to have launched an investigation. No competent authority at the agriculture ministry could comment to the Athens News either on the results of this probe or on the continued killings.

Putting out poisoned bait is a punishable offence under 1981 Law 1197 for the Protection of Animals.

There was another mass killing at Zappeio before Greece took on the EU presidency in January 1994. In response to the New Year's poisonings, simultaneous demonstrations organised by international animal welfare societies were held in London and Brussels on January 30 outside the Greek embassies. A 48,557-signature petition was handed over to the Brussels embassy (to be passed on to responsible authorities in Athens), calling for an end to the cruel treatment of animals in Greece and requesting humane methods of stray dog and cat population control before the 2004 Olympics.

Constantina Golfinopoulou, president of the Zappeio-based Olympic Heritage Organisation responsible for funds and events held there, says: "We have no idea who suddenly decided to [poison the cats]. It's very sad. We hope now that the defence ministry is guarding Zappeio (for the duration of the EU presidency), the cats will be protected. If they see anyone acting against the animals, the soldiers will intervene," she says.

One of the victims of the latest killing, a large neutered male tabby, had been living in Zappeio for more than seven years. He had dodged all previous poisonings (sporadic incidents believed to be carried out by locals), and had survived being hit by cars twice when he was initially living close to Irodou Attikou Ave.

Following his second road accident, Friends of the Cat moved this friendly tabby closer to the Zappeio building, believing that he would be safer there away from the traffic. He was found dead on St Valentine's Day.

Friends of the Cat are trying to find a home for Samba, a spayed five-year-old calico female, who has now escaped death in the park twice. If you could offer her the love and security she needs, please ring 210-619-5542 or 6977-717357.

ATHENS NEWS , 21/02/2003 , page: A09
Article code: C13002A092

Speak Up for Dogs and Cats in Greece

Greek authorities are currently working with animal protection groups to address the problem of homeless dogs and cats in Greece. Although illegal, poisoning animals is not uncommon in Greece. The government has condemned the poisoning of animals and recently proposed new legislation, which specifies the following:

 Street dogs will be gathered up by trained municipal workers, taken to purpose-built centers where they will be examined for disease, and, if deemed healthy enough, vaccinated, treated for parasites, sterilized, microchipped, and put back on the street after a recovery period. Dogs with curable diseases will be treated. Those who are dangerous, seriously ill, disabled, or very old will be euthanized.

 Dog and cat guardians will be required to have animals microchipped or tattooed for easy identification.

 Breeders will be required to have puppies and kittens microchipped before selling them.

 Existing animal protection laws will be strictly enforced, including fining people who abandon their dogs and cruel people who mistreat, torture, or poison animals. The new legislation also levies stringent fines or imprisonment on those involved in dogfights.

 Breeders and pet shops selling live animals will be required to obtain a permit from the ministry, which will forbid the sale of animals under 7 weeks old.

 Guardians of female dogs will be required to secure homes for puppies or to spay their dogs.

This legislation is proposed to go into effect around March 2003.

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Sports - AP

Activists offer reward after spate of stray animal poisonings Mon Mar 17, 6:46 AM ET ATHENS, Greece - Animal right activists offered a reward Monday for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for a recent spate of poisonings that have decimated the stray animal population in Athens' National Gardens. The poisoning of 20 stray cats during the week of Feb. 14 was the second such case this year. On New Year's Eve, dozens of stray cats and dogs died of poisoning in Athens' main park. After animal activists alleged that the poisonings were connected to an effort to eliminate strays ahead of next year's Olympics, organizers of the games donated a large plot of land to build shelters for them. City officials, also angered at the poisonings, pledged to shelter the capital's thousands of strays. Activists with the Friends of the Cat group offered a 3,000 euro (US$3,240) reward for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the poisonings. Animal rights groups have said shelters will not solve the problem and have demanded the government implement compulsory registration of pets and neutering programs. The government is in the process of drafting legislation allowing authorities to collect, tag, vaccinate and find a home for strays.

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Urgent: More Animals Alleged to Have Been Poisoned in Greece