The first thing I’m going to do when I win the lottery is to set up sanctuaries for homeless cats and dogs all around the world. And one of the first cities I’m heading to? Athens.
You’ve got to have a heart of stone to not be moved by the sight of all the stray animals around the city. Down almost every road in the centre of Athens I came across cats and dogs of all shapes and sizes curled up asleep, racing around or attempting to find some glimpse of sunlight to sunbathe in.
Most keep themselves to themselves, keeping well out of the way of tourists, and scurrying away every time someone approaches them.
At first, I couldn’t help cooing at every single animal I saw. The more I saw, however, the more questions started to surface. Why do some of the dogs have collars? Why do so many of the cats look so healthy? I couldn’t help but think of my three cats at home and how they would survive on the streets.
When I got back from Greece, I decided to search for answers. However, in true internet form, answers aren’t easy to come by. The City of Athens website states that “the Municipal Authority is determined to protect” animals, while articles abound about the dog population being maintained by poisoning.
Some sites say that the animals are well looked after by the whole community, while others suggest that animals are viewed as vermin.
Many of the animals were pets that have simply been abandoned, left to fend for themselves on the streets. And, of course, with so many un-neutered animals on the street, it’s hardly a surprise that the population is getting out of hand.
But there are some glimmers of hope for the animals. In fact, I witnessed one of these little glimmers in the form of a woman walking the streets with a carrier bag full of cat food.
Cats were rushing up to her, rubbing themselves up her legs as if to thank her for her help. She said she was part of an organisation who looked after the cats, making sure they were well fed every day of the week. Taking a look online, there are a multitude of private organisations which try to take care of dogs and cats in the city. There’s also a Facebook group set up to try to raise awareness of stray cats.
That one moment did so much to restore my faith in humanity, and also went some way towards allaying my concerns. The throng of stray animals is definitely a problem in Athens, but it is comforting to see first-hand that there are people around to look after them in some way.
I found this all over the Balkans when I went. In the Greek Islands, I saw bowls of cat food and dog food tucked into street corners that stray animals helped themselves to. This was the worst I had seen it when 6dogs started attacking each other and people had to chase them away.
We were told recently that the problem of stray dogs was so bad, that after a child was bitten they decided to euthanise the dogs to solve the problem. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we were told that they neutered and tagged the stray dogs there.
Ite nearly six years later and there has not been a change. I am only 14 years old and I have been feeding them and giving them water or stroking them when I can but my family is not very fond of me doing this. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen one of the cats or dogs in one of these photos which was posted six years ago
I also saw loads of cats in Kos, just wandering the streets and even coming up to you for a stroke on the beach! On the whole they looked well looked after and I presumed they foraged in restaurant bins or got handouts from tourists and locals. It’s interesting that there’s conflicting reports of them being well looked after and also treated as pests. By the way your Athens pics are STUNNING – def putting Athens on my to-visit list.
D’aww, thanks! Yeah, I’ve heard there are a lot of strays around Greece in general, so I’m currently looking at how I can move over there indefinitely (jokes). 😀
Just visited the Acropolis in Athens saw a cat in a bad state filthy and salivating, obviously suffering. Everybody walked by oblivious to this. Frankly this spoilt the visit for me. I hope some volunteers may help, but I guess not enough people care. I shall find an Athenian Cat charity and donate.
13/04/2017