PETCO on Facebook
PETCO on Twitter
PETCO YouTube Channel
PETCO at LinkedIn
Blog Feed
written by 
a stray in Santorini
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Greece and it was an incredible experience. Athens was so unique; an eclectic mix of sleek modern architecture combined with fascinating ancient Roman ruins. However, what stuck out to me the most was not the historic site of Zeus’ Temple or the extremely sophisticated Acropolis Museum but the vast amount of stray dogs roaming the streets. I saw one and thought it was cute; I saw five and thought it was sad; throughout the course of my trip I saw at least 30 and thought, this is a problem.
Upon returning back to the states I decided to do some research on these stray dogs. Turns out there are all kinds of theories on why there are so many, who is to blame and how Greece plans to deal with them. According to local Tom Mazarakis, the municipal dog pounds used to have a handle on the dog population (meaning they would take strays in and, if they weren’t claimed in 90 days, put them to sleep). However, in recent years animal rights groups started to expose the poor treatment dogs were receiving in these pounds and eventually, most of them got shut down.
The problem now is no one knows what to do with them. During the 2004 Olympics this was a hot issue. Local authorities were concerned with how the amount of stray dogs might tarnish the city’s appeal, so, in an effort to clean up the streets while keeping animal rights groups happy, they rounded up all the stray dogs they could find, sterilized them, kept them on a farm for the duration of the games and then returned them to their natural habitat – the streets (this was a 2.11 million dollar project, by the way).
a stray by the metro station
Ultimately, there is no real solution or efforts being made to deal with the stray dogs. There are, however, multiple rescue groups providing support, such as Greek Animal Rescue and Friends of the Strays of Greece. There is even a documentary being made about it.
Seeing this firsthand made me so grateful to live in a place where animals still have hope. Where thousands of shelters spend their time, money and resources to provide homes for helpless animals every day. It made me even more grateful that I get to work for a company where animals are not only a priority, they come first. I get to see this passion for animals daily and it makes me wonder, what more can be done? What can I do to help? I don’t think Greek officials are intentionally neglecting their problem; they are just at a loss at what to do. What do you think they could do? What do you think we could do? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
How can anyone be at a loss on what to do with stray animals? Why is money an issue? It’s obvious to me that Greece needs to take humane control of this situation. They had the right idea during the Olympics. Gather them up, sterilize them and place them in a farm. It is the responsibility of a nation to care for its animals.
To help the homeless cats in Phoenix visit our site The Foundation For Homeless Cats.com we need people to trap, $20.00 donation to spay, PR people, event volunteers, food donations. We need help! I think the solution to animal control is S/N so we don’t have more homeless animals.
good info for all of us dog lovers to consider…let us know when the documentary comes out on the abandoned dogs of Greece.
This makes me so sad. I don’t think I could enjoy my vacation if I saw that happening all around me.
it’s so important that the government step in and care for these animals. if they can take the time to put the dogs on a farm during the olympics just for appearance sake then they can certainly do more now. what does it say about humanity if we sit by idly and watch animals suffer with hunger and health issues. true for our country as well.
This really is a huge issue, not only in Greece, we witnessed the same problem in MANY other countries in the region including Turkey and Italy to name a couple other severe examples. It truly is a shame and does make it very difficult to enjoy your vacation. If they could organize and execute a program making it an easy process for tourists to adopt them, that would definitely expand their options for families. They could collect the animals, clean them up and make sure they are healthy and not contagious, and set up portable adoption locations in popular spots. They could use the internet to publicize these unique adoptions and potentially create a draw. I believe they are currently overwhelmed with shear numbers at this point, and its apparent locals do not or cannot take care of them and the burden cannot fall solely on the government to provide care. I believe the first step is acceptance of a problem and after that they need to think outside the traditional box for humane solutions.
Greece needs to allocate moneys and start caring for thier animals. They need to start educating and spay & nueter programs need to be employed.
Greece is like most other countries, they view animals as ….animals, not pets, family members like we do in states.
Also I would like to add…the number of free roaming kittys in Greece is triple or more than dogs.
As for the question…what should we do?
Greece situation is heartbreaking, but I think we have alot of work still to be done here. We should concentrate on getting our own animals spayed & nutered. ending unwanted litters.
-thanks
Working at a company that helps people move worldwide with their pets, we’re often asked by people living overseas how to move a stray pet from one country or another. It can be quite difficult to pick up a stray pet in a foreign country, and then move him or her somewhere else but it’s not impossible!
What’s good to know is that many people who are living in these countries are now helping local strays. Soi Dog Rescue in Bangkok Thailand is one that comes to mind (http://www.scadbangkok.org/), and another great group is the Animal Rescue of Korea (http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/).
Rachel
PetRelocation.com
Hello everyone- I also had the amazing opportunity to go to Greece a few months ago. While I was there I saw so many beautiful dogs and cats who were defenseless, starving and left on their own.
Any time I would go to a restaurant, I would save extra food and feed the strays I could find. You could just tell that they were craving human contact. They would rub up against you and kiss your hands. One dog alone followed me for four hours straight, he ate about a half a pound of turkey breast and cheese I bought for him. I fell in love with this dog and cried for a few hours because I knew that I could not take him home with me. I have a photo with him and I will never forget him or any of the strays I cam across in Greece.
In Athens, they spay and neuter the animals on the street, feed them, water them and bring them into shelters during the cold months. The strays in Greece looked like ordinary dogs that you would find in someone’s home. In other villages, towns and cities, they are on their own. Their bones were showing, their fur was matted, and they looked like they wanted to give up.
I think more awareness needs to be brought about on strays in Greece as well as every country that abuses animals.
If I could go back to Greece right now with millions and millions of dollars, I would take in every stray and love them and give them suitable homes that will be forever homes.
I returned from a two-week trip Greece recently, and am shocked at the notes I’ve just read on this website. We spent time in Thessaloniki, Athens, Bollos, and Santorini. At no other time have I seen such a happy, healthy, and very well-fed group of dogs!!
“Starving for human attention”?? Not in the least! The groups of up to 6 dogs that we encountered in various places seemed quite content to play with each other or to find a napping spot in the sun on their own.
Tourists, of course, were curious and on occasion instigated a game of fetch with an empty water bottle. But the locals seemed to live in peace with them – stepping around dogs who had parked themselves in the middle of a plaza or overseeing a scuffle between dogs, seeming ready to interfere but never needing to as the animals sorted things out themselves. A handful of shopkeepers put water out for the dogs and it must have been a community effort to keep the streets clean of their waste because little was to be found.
I do believe that we have a responsibility to care for the animals that we’ve domesticated, but I’m not sure what more could be desired for the dogs of Greece? To be stuck as an only dog in a home which remains empty for 8-12 hours a day and dead silent for another 8? To be beaten for making any variety of messes in a house? Or to live in a pack, free to range a city that seems quite hospitable?
Please tell me: what did I miss?!
C.Davis you obviously missed everything. All over Greece stray animals suffer. It’s bad enough they may starve during winter months but the majority don’t even get to the winter. Dogs are
hung, shot or poisoned and cats regularly poisoned. The worst crime of all is that the people running this country do absolutely nothing to enforce animal welfare laws. You actually catch someone poisoning animals and are told they are either too young, too old, too crazy or too clever ever to be put behind bars or fined for their cruelty.