PLEASE
HELP SPREAD THE WORD! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! INSERT ON WEBSITES!
SIGN THE PETITION! PLEASE HELP TELL THE WORLD!
Give the strays of
Greece a sporting chance to survive the Olympic Games 2004
A
HOLIDAY IN GREECE?
A tempting idea, but if you are an animal
lover ...
Poisoning
of stray - and owned - dogs and
cats is widespread throughout Greece and it occurs on a daily
basis. Those responsible for spreading around poisoned bait are
rarely caught in the act and usually the bodies of their victims
are picked up by garbage collectors in the early hours of the
morning. The poisoning is often excused as a necessary and cheap
cleaning up operation of the large numbers of stray dogs and cats
which are seen as a problem. Some people fear the strays would
‘spread disease’, others consider them a nuisance, especially when
their numbers increase.
Sterilisation
is not common for household companion animals, because it is
regarded as a negative intervention in the animals’ nature, but
their owners refuse to take responsibility for the unwanted
litters of puppies and kittens, which are usually abandoned. In
short, many people seem to view poisoning as a ‘fact of life’. The
poison used can be anything from strychnine and rat poison to farm
pesticides and herbicides; even crushed glass.
WHEN THE TOURISTS LEAVE ...
The average life-span
of a stray dog in
Greece is less than two years, as
most of them perish during the winter months, if not shortly after
the holiday season comes to an end. The last charter flights
depart from the islands at the end of October, by which time most
of the hotels and tavernas have closed down for the winter.
The strays, so
dependent on the tourists for food during the summer, are left to
fend for themselves, not knowing where their next meal would be
coming from ... poisoned bait may be their last morsel, if they
are not shot, or hit by a car, or hanged first ...
Millions of
tourists from all over the world visit
Greece every
year and many are shocked by the sights of animals in distress.
They often befriend and feed the strays, who are generally very
friendly and loving ... they just want to 'belong' and they try
very hard to find somebody to adopt them ... the lucky few succeed.
YOU TOO COULD ADOPT
A
GREEK STRAY
... and give him/her a chance of a happy and secure future
THE KILLING MUST STOP!
Even rampant
poisoning is not recognized as an official problem! There are
hardly any reports made to the police. And despite their anger and
sorrow, the somewhat cynical and lax response from the owners of
animals poisoned to death shows that they do not trust the
judicial system; some even fear it. So it appears that poisoning
will long remain acceptable within the Greek culture, as long as
the authorities
themselves
show total indifference to the problem.
ANIMAL PROTECTION LAWS
Greece
has adequate animal protection laws, but in general, they are not
enforced! We can all try to ensure that they are enforced whenever
possible. If you happen to witness a cruelty case, please report
it to the police and the municipalities - which bear the
responsibility for the stray animals. Article 2 of Greek law 1197
states:"Whoever kills, harasses, or ill-treats animals covered by
the present legislation, or abandons them, is punishable by
article 8 of the present penal code."
HOW YOU CAN HELP
This leaflet
has been prepared by a coalition of animal welfare groups
throughout
Greece and supporting foreign
organizations. The purpose of the leaflet is to draw attention to
the country’s appalling animal welfare problems and to ask for
your help. Tourism is Greece’s number one industry and the
authorities will pay attention to the complaints registered by
foreign visitors, especially now that the country is preparing to
host the next Olympic Games ... to take place in 2004. With your
help, the authorities in Greece can hopefully be persuaded to
adopt a humane ‘stray control’ policy, by implementing widespread
neutering programmes. We ask that you please write to: the
Prime Minister Costas Simitis:
mail@primeminister.gr ,
the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Georgios Drys:
ax2u082@minagric.gr
and to the Minister
of Tourism, Mr Dimitrios Georgarakis:
president@gnto.gr -
urging positive action to resolve Greece’s animal welfare problems.
Also please sign an on-line petition at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/OG2004/petition.html .
Please send this email on to those who care about the plight of
animals anywhere & everywhere ...
Animal suffering knows no boundaries, language or creed, but ...'all
the darkness in the world can't put out the light of one small
candle'
THANK
YOU FOR CARING
==============================
Olympics 2004:
Anti-poison Campaign continues in Greece
Anti-Poison Campaign continues in Greece but under different
guidelines.
The Ministry of Agriculture has strongly denied that they have any
intention of carrying out a mass poisoning of strays before the
Olympics. They have replied to our accusations in Greek and
English and at a meeting with Ministry officials, they have told
us in person; THEY SAY THAT THEY HAVE NO PLAN TO POISON THE STRAYS.
We have no reason to doubt them. But we also feel that all the
letters sent to them discouraging them from carrying out such a
campaign may have influenced them to seek saner alternatives. So
thank you to everyone who did write the government and Greek
tourist organization.
Since we began this campaign last fall, a lot of things have
happened. WSPA met with the Ministry of Agriculture and suggested
a program to deal with the strays before the Olympics - the main
thrust being to collect the dogs and put them in municipal
shelters (with set-up money from the EU).
This proposal is now being discussed in parliament. On the surface,
this may seem like a logical solution
but animal welfare groups are very concerned about a number of
things.
First, municipal shelters do not have a good reputation in this
country - being poorly run, poorly financed, with no on-going
program for sterilization, vaccination, homing, education, etc.
This is not to say that this cannot be changed,
but how will this come about?
Secondly, there is no need for all strays to be collected; many
live in protected neighborhoods where they have been neutered,
vaccinated and tagged and are fed and looked after by the local
people. Could the Ministry cooperate with local animal welfare
groups about these protected strays? It makes no sense to pick
them up and put them in shelters, as they are no threat to those
attending the Olympics. Lastly, and more importantly,
what will happen to these dogs in these shelters?
Will they become dog concentration camps? There are already a
number of shelters in this country which qualify as nothing more
than this. SPAZ and other groups have been trying to close one
shelter down in which the owner keeps dogs in cages tied to the
ceiling; after years of contacting Ministry officials, petitions,
photos and videos showing the horrendous condition in which the
animals are being kept, NOTHING has happened. The government says
we have no right to go in and rescue these animals no matter how
much evidence we have that they are being cruelly treated and they
refuse to close it. And this is not the only 'shelter' run in this
way. Animal welfare groups are, therefore, understandably wary of
the government proposal to set up dozens (perhaps hundreds?) of
dog shelters. They fear that the dogs will simply go there and die.
There is a rumor that the city of Athens is already collecting
stray dogs and putting them in a shelter somewhere or perhaps
putting all of them down. There is no proof of this, but
considering the hysteria generated by the word euthanasia in
Greece, if the city were in fact collecting dogs and putting them
down, they could hardly admit it. If they are collecting them,
people want to know where this shelter is.
There is much going on that is secretive and this worries all of
us in animal welfare.
Even though the government says they are NOT planning any poison
campaign,
it is a fact that each year, there is a culling of stray animals
by poison in this country.
Who carries it out? The educated guess is both individuals and
municipalities. The present anti-poison campaign is targeting this
practice. We need to educate people that this is not the solution
to the stray animal problem. It is both extremely cruel and
illegal to poison strays. And not only strays get poisoned. Many
homed animals also die as a result. Mykonos is the best example...
poisoned food was thrown into the yards of about 30 local
residents a few years ago and many animals died. Part of the
education process also discourages people from abandoning their
animals, something occurring quite regularly in Greece. Abandoned
animals only add to the stray population and in areas where local
strays are neutered and maintain a stable community, a new stray
dog always creates a problem, both for the dogs and humans.
The general population is against poisoning animals. So it is
hoped that with time, education, more neutering, vaccinating and
homing, the tide will turn and poisoning strays will NOT be
considered an alternative.
Elizabeth C. Koubena
SPAZ - Society for the Protection of Stray Animals, Glyfada,
Athens, Greece
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS THAT SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THE SITUATION IN
GREECE. PLEASE WRITE TO THE FOLLOWING: THE EUROPEAN UNION
EU Direct
e-mail: mail@europe-direct.cec.eu.int
EU Environment: envinfo@cec.eu.int
FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION VISIT:
www.paw-europe.com/olympics.html
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