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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnew...s-15-000-dogs-before-olympics--name_page.html

Jul 12 2004


RSPCA fears 'clean-up' cull

By Achilleas Topas


EXPERTS fear up to 15,000 stray dogs will be poisoned before next month's Athens Olympics so the city looks "pristine".

Authorities in the Greek capital fear the sight of packs roaming the streets will damage the country's bid to show it is modern and civilised, the RSPCA said yesterday.

Greek animal welfare groups say slaughter of the city's estimated 15,000 strays has started. Eighty dogs have been found dead in Saronida, a coastal resort where members of the British team are expected to stay.

One animal welfare activist said: "There's been a big increase in poisonings and we expect it to rise sharply."

David Bowles of RSPCA International has been helping to train Greek officials to catch and treat strays humanely.

He said: "We're seriously concerned thousands of dogs will be poisoned so Greece can show Athens is a pristine, modern city. It would be barbaric and would solve nothing."

He added: "A lot of the local authorities don't know how to treat dogs humanely."

Another senior RSPCA official added: "If the Greeks continue to poison dogs they can't consider themselves civilised."

The authorities insist there will be no mass poisoning but Athens' few dog shelters are already crowded.

Greece has little tradition of caring for strays.

Poisoning animals is a crime there but it is the usual method of keeping numbers down and is used unofficially by some local councils.

A spokesman for the Greek Embassy in London said animal welfare was taken seriously in Greece. "Measures have been taken to improve standards."

-A MONGREL owned by an Aborginal family in Australia could become the world's oldest dog. A vet said Jerry, 26 - a cattle dog-bull terrier cross - is fit enough to reach 28. The oldest living dog is Butch, 27, a beagle in America.

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I love dogs. This is terrible!

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Not cool. How would they feel if someone found it necessary to wipe their country of the face of the Earth, just to improve the image of Greece.

Edit- I tried to word it so we could avoid any WWII comparisons/references. I suppose saying Greece woud have been better. My apologies.

 

[DSN2K]

Not cool. How would they feel if someone found it necessary to wipe their country of the face of the Earth, just to improve the image of Europe.

heh

 

[Doth Togo]

Not cool. How would they feel if someone found it necessary to wipe their country of the face of the Earth, just to improve the image of Europe.

Umm, WWII?

 

[MrAngryFace]

This is like the holocaust except no one cares.

 

[Tritroid]

You can bet the SPCA does.

 

[gofreak]

Not cool. How would they feel if someone found it necessary to wipe their country of the face of the Earth, just to improve the image of Europe.

Image of GREECE. Please.

 

[MrAngryFace]

id go rescue them but I dunno what I would even do with 15,000 dogs. Maybe organize a poker tourney or something.

 

[Blackace]

Well we lock up all the homeless people for no reason whatsoever for the games in the states... Kind of the same....really.... I know it is a strecth but I wanted to say something

 

[Fifty]

Yeah, but these are dogs, not homeless people. They have rights!

 

[Blackace]

id go rescue them but I dunno what I would even do with 15,000 dogs. Maybe organize a poker tourney or something.

that would make a great painting

 

[dark10x]

Good lord. That's incredibly cruel.

 

[jobber]

tisk tisk...it's like locking that mutated twin of yours in the basement while relatives come over.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Why dont they do a 'come to the olympics get a free dog' thing. Like baseball bat day or something.

 

[tedtropy]

Well we lock up all the homeless people for no reason whatsoever for the games in the states... Kind of the same....really.... I know it is a strecth but I wanted to say something

Now what they should've done was held a seperate, special Hobo Olympics. Just imagine all the new events they could create. It's an Olympics I might actually want to watch!

 

[beto]

They should sell them to South Korea as food.

 

[Lucky Forward]

Do they intend to round up these dogs and gas them, or are they just poisoning them in the streets?

Eighty dogs have been found dead in Saronida, a coastal resort where members of the British team are expected to stay.

Somehow I don't think that the prospect of 15,000 poisoned dogs rotting in the August heat of Athens streets is going to promote the image of a "pristine" city.

 

[Blackace]

Now what they should've done was held a seperate, special Hobo Olympics. Just imagine all the new events they could create. It's an Olympics I might actually want to watch!

The Screaming at passing traffic 100m, shopping cart dash 50m (bad wheels), Pan Handling standard and freestyle events......

 

[AssMan]

Bunch of crazy, spong picking Greeks.

 

[Boogie9IGN]

They should make a new country of Hyrule, and in the castle market, get those 15,000 dogs and have them roam at night. You can even go and try to find lost ones and get a beer or something

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

This is fucked up.

 

[Greekboy]

Has anyone thought that maybe those dogs are better off dead? Ponder that for a second.

 

[bionic77]

Doesn't pretty much every country do this, just maybe not on this scale, to keep strays off the street and control their population? I thought we do this sort of stuff on a daily basis in America, probably in something close to those numbers too if you look at it nationwide.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

I wanna see 15,000 dogs (un claimed I'm assuming) running around in your cities, and see how like that shit. Kill them bitches!

 

[Mike Works]

This is like the holocaust except no one cares.

more like the dogocaust right maf

 

[ManDudeChild]

Doesn't pretty much every country do this, just maybe not on this scale, to keep strays off the street and control their population? I thought we do this sort of stuff on a daily basis in America, probably in something close to those numbers too if you look at it nationwide.

Proabably much higher in America too. That's not a slam against the country, probably much higher here in Canada than in Greece too. Still sad though

 

[MonkeyBoy]

what i cant figure out is they want to show how civilized their city is, so they do it by nearly sacraficing 15,000 dogs for the olympics. HUH?

 

[Dagless M.D.]

sorry, but it was only a matter of time

 

[MonkeyBoy]

This is like the holocaust except no one cares.

 

[MrAngryFace]

DOGOCAUST!

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Does anyone have any idea how many animals are gassed every year in the Greece? This is not an earth shattering event. I'm sure they are doing hundreds a week anyways.

 

[XMonkey]

sorry, but it was only a matter of time

Oh man, so wrong...but so funny.

 

[Warm Machine]

I've walked around Athens and there are loads of strays everywhere. Most of them are skinny and have wounds and scars from fights with other dogs. This might not be the worst thing to happen.

 

[Jugendstil]

MMMMMMMMMMM... gyros.

 

[MrAngryFace]

the worst thing is if the dogs gassed 15,000 humans. dog farts are the worst.

 

[Lil' Dice]

Stray dogs are a pain in the ass, they constantly pester people like four legger gipsies. That's why cats>>>>dogs, stray cats are like four legged ninjas....

 

[Dekajelly]

That's alot of kebab meat....

 

[bionic77]

Stray cats are also supposed to be a big nuisance and according to some naturalist friend of mine they are very destructive to bird populations.

It is still a cruel thing for them to do, but at the end of the day they are just dogs. We kill and maim millions of animals every day. It justs goes to show the wisdom of Bob Barker, spay or neuter your pets and this won't happen!!!

What is more cruel, gassing them to death or neutering them. I know if I personally had to choose, it would be a decision that required some time and careful thought.

 

[Mermandala]

We will have our day.

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

Dont worry,the real reason is that they need more Gyros meat to feed all the tourists.

 

[MASB]

Well this is bad news and kind of hypocritical of Greece (putting up a false front=Civilization!), but it sounds better than what my county does. They're so cheap, instead of putting dogs to sleep, they throw them in landfills and bury them alive. It's shameful really, but no one's going to do anything about it. Besides, naturally, the county doesn't 'officially' do such things.

 

[Ghost]

I havent been to greece but ive been to a few islands in the mediterranean and if its anything like where ive been most of the stray dogs and cats are actually on the streets (not in pounds as some of you may be thinking), they must a have terrible quality of life, and most will probably find their way into a curry dish before a good home.

Obviously killing is never the humane thing to do, but to be honest it needs to be done.

 

[Mike Works]

the worst thing is if the dogs gassed 15,000 humans. dog farts are the worst.

We took my old dog up to our cabin for a week.

He discovered a taste for slugs.

It was horrible.

 

[LakeEarth]

I never got the saying "Let sleeping dogs lie" until you go on vacation in Europe or something and see like 6 of them sleeping in the middle of the path. You just leave them the fuck alone, that's what you do!

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

They should sell them to South Korea as food.

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