A team of London volunteer vets arrived in Greece in September to lend their support to Panagiota Tsagkou, who runs a veterinary clinic in Lechena, western Peloponnese. Her town, like many throughout Greece, have been overcome by the influx of stray dogs.
Every night after midnight, she treks to the beach to feed the stray dogs and identifies animals that might have health issues. She treats animals at her own expense and has also conducted numerous surgeries to sterilize the strays.
The problem has been exacerbated by the financial crisis as many Greeks who cannot afford pets simply abandon them on beaches and town squares.
A team of British vets from London have lent their support, visiting Lechena for a week in September to help Dr. Tsagkou conduct more spaying and neutering surgeries on the local stray population. The effort was led by veterinary surgeon Dr. Hugo Richardson of the London Vet Clinic (LVC) in Marylebone and supported by generous donations from clients at Richardson’s clinic.
According to a BBC report by Emilia Papadopoulos, it is believed that there are more than a million stray dogs throughout Greece.
4 comments
Sadly, all of this is messed up – think about it …
Why do we, as foreigners, need to fight for Crete? What makes Crete so WEAK that it cannot fight for itself??
CRETE, get off your lay buts!! Foreigners do NOT appreciate your disregard of animals.
Thank you
Lynette van Duyn
lynette stfu f no they aren’t lazy but then u need help ppl should help you no shut it
I was visiting Athens recently, and was shocked to read in a news brief that countless stay dogs in Pireaus western suburbs as well as Kato Patissia, Athens and other areas have disappeared. Thr grim suspicion is that Pakistani and other immigrants have been catching the dogs and kill them to eat them. I have seen some grisly photos. I have since been asking taxi drivers what they knew about this. They all confirmed it , yes, stray dogs are delicacy food for some immigrant communities who prey on the abundant supply until now existing in Athens .. Actually, the number of stray dogs in these areas is now minimal. The authorites know about this but turn a blnd eye. It is appalling that this is allowed to go on.