greece-stray dogs?
was considering a trip to Greece but I have heard there are a lot of stray dogs, I am a big animal lover and I find it troubling to come across needy animals. I have been to North Italy, UK, France, Germany and Austria w/no such problem. are there a lot of dogs in Greece? if so any other country suggestions???
Toni
Long Beach, CA USA 5/2/08
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I don't remember stray dogs. But there are lots of cats.
One thing I noticed in both small towns and in certain parts of Athens is that there are restaurants/stores that have jars for you to put money in for dog food. In one town, it seemed that everyone who worked on the street seemed to take care of this one dog; he seemed like a celebrity.
Actually as anther poster said, it wasn't so much dogs we saw stray in Athens, as it was cats. In fact I don't recall seeing more stray dogs in Greece then any of the other countries mentioned. As FlightAttendent noted, she herself has only noticed a significant problem in Spain, not Greece.
In Athens we did see alot of stray cats, but really ,they are not stray so much as ferel, and they are not completely neglected. In the evenings we saw older Greek ladies(the black kerchiefs on their heads and all) wandering into parks and ruins and opening newpapers which they had wrapped their dinner scraps, you could tell the cats knew the routine as they would just appear. We saw this same scnerio in a few places, so relax, there are animal lovers everywhere.
I would hardly miss a whole country over this, and on the islands we never noticed it at all. The Greeks are generally warm hearted people, but many are still poor, they do what they can for the animals, but keep in mind, cont.
families and livestock come first. My friend was moved to Haiti with her bf for work. While there she freaked about seeing poor animals, her boyfriend put her straight though and said, " look these people struggle to feed their children so freaking out about the animals seems pretty crass" . She was shocked, but did realize after awhile he was in fact correct.
No Europeon country is that poor, not Greece even, so please stop worrying. A few stray cats is not a big deal, no one is mean to them, and a waiter told us they help keep the mice and rats away so no one is cruel to them at all.
The dogs, we never noticed.
Perhaps a donation to Greece's humane society while you are there would be a proactive and positive approach instead of shunning the country as a whole because they might have a stray dog problem. It is a shame to avoid a country, culture and learning experience when you could actually go and make it a better place if you choose to.
We have not encountered stray dogs in Greece, but plenty of them in southern Italy, most notably around Pompeii where many roam.
I just returned from Greece last night. In Athens there are stray dogs and cats everywhere. On Lesvos Island we saw a few stray cats. We did not see strays in Nafplion. None of the animals we saw appeared to be suffereing or going hungry. They seem to live in set territories and are known by the local residents. Many people feed these animals, and I suspect restaurants put out left over food for them. I have heard there is a small group working to educate and assist with spay and neuter clinics to help correct the issue of stray cats and dogs.
I have come across this interesting article about stray dogs in Athens Greece. I think you will like reading this. http://www.athensguide.com/straydogs/
I didn't see any stray dogs wjile in Greece for 3 weeks. But I am sure people will feed them somehow, if any.
My wife & I just returned from Athens and Mykonos: yes, there are many stray dogs. In fact, when we went to visit the Acropolis on our first morning in Athens, we were surprised to find two dogs lounging near the main entrance. The dogs were celebrities, as far as the picture-happy tourists were concerned (I have pics, too ;). It wasn't long before this became a common theme, with dogs lounging about wherever we went. The most striking thing was how indifferent and well fed the dogs were, as if in their senior years; they seemed to be content living a life of siestas. In the States, you would expect to see stray dogs begging (alfresco) diners for food; we saw none of this. That’s not to say there aren't aggressive strays to be found, but we never met one.
FWIW, we've vacationed in France, Spain and Italy over the past few years, and never saw the number of stray dogs we saw in Greece.
Hello Toni. I was in Athens, in November of 2005. One of the few things I liked in Athens was the dogs. I did not know they are stray dogs, but I thought it was unusual seeing big dogs walking loose in a big city. On streets at the north side of the Acropolis I saw a brown Labrador retriever dog, and a Siberian Husky dog (blue eyes). Those are my favorite breeds of dogs. The dogs were well behaved. The Labrador retriever (a big dog) walked in to a small store that has post cards for sale. The owner of the store did not care, but the dog was chased out by a cat. On the island Naxos, on the pedestrian street at the harbor at Naxos town (Hora) a Siberian Husky dog (blue eyes) was walking on the street. I gave the dog water to drink. The dog blended in with the people, it did not cause any problem. I liked the island Naxos (in the Cyclades islands group) more than Rhodes (in the Dodecanese islands) and Chios (northeastern Agean Sea islands).
In ATHENS I saw a dog (moderately big) at Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos). The dog walked up the stairs and stopped at the sidewalk (across the street from the Greek Parliament building where the changing of the gaurd is). The dog did not annoy people. That dog has "street smarts". I was told that the dogs I saw at the north side of the Acropolis hill stay there - in western Plaka - all of the time. I guess they follow tourists around to the Acropolis visitors' entrance some days.
Yes, there are stray dogs in Greece. Especially in the residential areas.
While some appear friendly we must always remember to use caution when in contact with them. No one wants to be treated for a bite wound or worse. We've all heard about the thoughtful person who carried home her leftovers for the cute stray they'd seen everyday near the hotel...only to be bit as thanks!
I'm in Athens right now and there are a ton of stray dogs, but they don't really bother anyone. Shopkeepers seem to leave food out. I don't think you should let this issue effect your decision to come to Greece its beautiful!