In 2004 the Summer Olympics will return to their origin in Greece where \r\nthe Olympic tradition began over 2000 years ago\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/p>
In 2004 the Summer Olympics will return to their origin in \r\nGreece where the Olympic tradition began over 2000 years ago. But another \r\nOlympics is going on in Greece right now. Every day in cities, town and \r\nvillages all over Greece stray dogs and cats compete in a contest to see if they \r\ncan survive another day. (If you have ever holidayed in Greece you have, no \r\ndoubt, seen the stray dogs and cats begging for food.) Unlike the Olympics that \r\nwe see on television, this contest is stacked against the strays. Stray animals \r\nare tricked everyday into eating bait laced with strychnine, rat poison, \r\nherbicides, and pesticides or crushed glass. Then in the early morning garbage \r\ntrucks come around and pick up the dead or dying animals. <\/p>\r\n
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How did the nation that brought us Socrates and Plato, \r\ndemocracy and the Olympics sink to this barbaric level of animal treatment? How \r\ndoes a nation that subscribes to the European Union (EU) code of human and \r\nanimal rights get away with this brutish treatment of animals? It's all a \r\nmatter of money and politics. While Western Europeans realized some time ago \r\nthat spaying and neutering (sterilizing) animals was the most humane method of \r\npreventing animal suffering, most Greeks still subscribe to the theory that it \r\nis better to let the animals “have their fun”. Sure the Greek Government passed \r\nthe laws required of them as members of the EU. But in a snub to the EU, the \r\ngovernment took no action to enforce the laws. There has not been and is not \r\ntoday even the pretense that the laws would be enforced. <\/p>\r\n
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Of course this means that every day over a thousand \r\nunwanted dogs and cats are born on the streets and in the homes of Greece. It is \r\nat this point that the practice of allowing household pets and strays to remain \r\nunaltered becomes cruel. Greeks are all for allowing the animals to “have their \r\nfun” but when it comes to dealing with the results of that “fun” most Greeks \r\nwash their hands of the matter. Consequently many of these unwanted pets are \r\nsimply thrown out of the household in which they were born to fend for \r\nthemselves. Some Greeks resort to more vicious means to rid themselves of \r\nunwanted pets such as hanging dogs from trees. Of course, the stray animals \r\nreleased from their homes un-spayed and un-neutered begin the process all over \r\nagain.<\/p>\r\n
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To fix this problem the Greeks have decided (unlike Western \r\nEurope) not to attack the problem at its source (which would involve spaying and \r\nneutering) but at its result (the cruelest way of handling the problem). In \r\npreparation for the tourists who flock to Greece each year and for the Olympic \r\nfans who will descend on Greece in a couple years Greeks have devised a number \r\nof hideously cruel methods of killing and controlling stray dogs and cats. \r\nPoisoning, torturing, starvation are all used (see articles on these practices \r\nat the end of this column). In an attempt to put a façade on the hideous \r\npractices of the Greek population, the Greek Minister of Agriculture has decided \r\nto finance the construction of shelters. However these shelters will be nothing \r\nmore than “Death Camps”. In its cruel way the Government has allocated money to \r\nfund the construction of the shelter\/camps, but not for the animals’ food or \r\nmedical expenses. These so-called shelters will keep the animal confined for a \r\nmaximum of 20 days. After that they will be killed. <\/p>\r\n
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If you are an animal lover the Olympics gives us an \r\nopportunity to do something about this problem that we won’t have again for a \r\nlong time. The eyes of the world will be on Greece as the country prepares for \r\nthe Olympic Games. Greece will be trying to shield from those eyes how it \r\ntreats its stray animals. But if we work together we can force the Greek \r\ngovernment to change its ways and put in place, before the Olympics, the \r\nstructure and educational programs necessary to give the stray animals in Greece \r\na chance at decent life. <\/p>\r\n
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Here are some things you can do to help the effort of \r\nsaving theses beautiful creatures.<\/p>\r\n
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1) \r\n<\/span>Boycott both Greece and the 2004 Olympics as a travel destination and \r\ninform Greek officials of your plans. Tourism is Greece’s number one industry \r\nand officials pay attention to complaints. Write about your concerns to the \r\nfollowing: The Greek Prime Minister, Costas Simitis at\r\n\r\nmail@primeminister.gr . <\/p>\r\n The Greek \r\nMinister of Tourism, Mr.Dimitrios at\r\n\r\npresident@gnto.gr <\/p>\r\n \r\n2) \r\n<\/span><\/span><\/strong>Sign the petition and ask your friends to sign the \r\npetition \r\n\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.petitiononline.com\/OG2004\/petition.html<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n3) \r\n<\/span><\/span>Write to the International \r\nOlympic Committee at <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n The \r\nInternational Olympic Committee<\/p>\r\n Chateau de \r\nVidy<\/p>\r\n 1007 Lausann<\/p>\r\n Switzerland<\/p>\r\n Telephone \r\n(00) 4121 621 6111<\/p>\r\n Fax (00) 4121 621 6216<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n For further knowledge on the subject of animal abuse in \r\nGreece, please read the following articles. When Greek officials say their \r\nabysmal treatment of animals is just a rumor, ask them about these articles: <\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/world\/europe\/1251619.stm <\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.hackwriters.com\/greektragedy.htm <\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.arkonline.com\/crete.htm <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Some organizations involved with the plight of Greek stray \r\nanimals can be found on these sites:<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/worldanimalnet.org - Look under Greece\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.paw-europe.com\/grgroups.htm<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n","contact":"alexandra.yurkiw@attbi.com","link":"http:\/\/www.petitiononline.com\/OG2004\/petition.html","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"As the 2004 Olympics approaches, animal torture in Greece is reaching ever higher levels.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2002\/07\/18047.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}