AR-News: London Times Article Greece/Poisonings and Cruelty

[סמדר]

From: Marijo Gillis 
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 8:03 PM
Subject: London Times Article Greece/Poisonings and Cruelty




Deputy Prime Minister Alexandros Kontos
Ministry of Agriculture


Dear Minister Mr. Kontos: 

Thank you for our recent phone conversation.  I followed your directions and called you on Tuesday morning and unfortunately was unable to reach you.  I and one of our attorneys did speak with Mr. Iatrides at length on Tuesday morning..

Please read this article which follows.  Other uncomplimentary articles  have appeared in the European press  An article regarding Greece and her animals will be appearing in the United States as well.  

The ludicrous allegations of Mrs. Garagouni and Tetrapolodogein against the Animal Welfare Societies of Greece, Europe and North America are malicious and unsubstantiated and have undoubtedly produced an unwanted  international incident.  Now that Greece finally  has a decent and compassionate government in position, please act rapidly  to dismiss this idiocy and sanction Mrs. Garagouni, her associates and their hysterical claims and outbursts.  Litigations are pending and the situation caused by this one mis-guided and troublesome woman must be resolved.

This situation, caused by Mrs. Ioanna Gargaouni, if left unaddressed will produce an unavoidable public relations nightmare and it will not just be the animals that suffer.

I hope to hear from you or your delegate.  I must put the ending to my story and I want it to be a happy one and one that is positive for the image of Greece. Once again, may I say a heartfelt congratulations for your appointment and for the smashing victory of Nea Democratia.  

Marijo Anne Gillis
New York City
(212) 427-0587   

 THE TIMES April 14, 2004
  London
   GREECE 
RELAXED TO THE POINT OF NEGLECT by Penny Wark

EVERY TIME GREECE WANTS THE STREETS OF ATHENS TO LOOK TIDY, SOMEONE THINKS THE SOLUTION IS TO POISON ITS STRAY DOGS AND CATS

      TO HOST the Olympic Games is never an unalloyed joy. International scrutiny magnified concern about human rights abuses in China and now the Greeks' happily relaxed attitude to construction has led to concern about whether this will compromise security.

      But there is another area in which Greece has traditionally been relaxed to the point of neglect and it concerns not humans but animals. Anyone who has been to Greece will be familiar with the stray dogs and cats that roam the streets.

      You have probably fed them. You will have heard barking guard dogs that are chained up and rarely or never exercised.

       

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



          Two years ago I attempted to help one such starved and maltreated dog that was tethered to a bush by a few feet of wire on wasteland. A volunteer from an animal. welfare organisation contacted the owner and removed the dog for urgent veterinary treatment She began to recover, and for a few months she led a happy life in which she was well treated and loved. The volunteer called her "sweet dog"; I called her Kyria, Greek for lady, and it seemed likely that she would be well enough to come to Britain on a pet passport. Then, a few weeks before she was due to travel,  she became ill with a virulent tumour. She could not be saved.

          I have kept in touch with animal welfare groups working in Greece since then and followed their progress as they try to work with the authorities to neuter and microchip stray animals, and to persuade the Greek people that their casually cruel attitudes towards animals are inappropriate.

      There has been progress: last year the Greek Parliament passed a new law which requires pet owners to register and identify their animals. There are now harsh penalties for those who mistreat and abandon animals, and local councils are required to organise neutering, vaccination, microchipping and the re-release of strays. There is even funding for educational campaigns on responsible pet ownership.

      The animal welfare organisations could not have asked for much more, but in practice, they report, the law is not enforced. There is no national database for the registration of animals and even if there was, changing the attitudes that have led to abuse is a slow process. The conventional Greek method of controlling stray populations of animals is to use poison, and every animal welfare worker I speak to knows of a recent incidence of this: 30 deaths here, 60 there. Whenever a stray population is regarded as too big, or whenever Greece hosts an EU meeting and wants the streets of Athens to look tidy, someone seems to think that the solution is to put down poison and look the other way as scores of cats and dogs die in agony.

      It is hard to believe that the international attention focused on Greece for the Olympic Games will stop this happening.  But if poisoning is not disturbing enough, there is now what you might call a resistance movement to animal welfare work in Greece.  Welfare workers who have rescued dogs and cats and arranged for them to be re-homed with caring owners in other European countries are being accused of illegally transporting stray animals for profit.: it is said that strays are being taken to vivisection laboratories or skinned for their fur.

          There is no evidence of this, and even if there was, it would make no financial sense: the cost of rescuing a stray dog or cat and sending it abroad far outstrips the 50€ that a sale is said to raise.  Yet as a result of these allegations, some vets who have worked with rescued animals are now refusing to complete the paperwork that would give the strays new homes.

          Many Greek people are said to be outraged by this so-called scandal.  If they really care about animals, the solution is simple: to turn a kind eye on those filling their streets.  The solution is in their hands.
     


2004 ATHENS OLYMPICS - GREEK ANIMALS RACE FOR THEIR LIVES

SUPPORT a continuing BOYCOTT of Greece and the 2004 ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES

Marijo Anne Gillis - Founder
WAG-New York (Welfare for Animals in Greece - a Lobby Group)
(212) 427-0587
http://www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/WAG_NewYork_Index.html
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040414/a4fe3e40/attachment.html