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.