Athens continues to poison dogs and cats for Olympics 2004 clean-up!

[Guest guest]

Capital letters

 

 

---

-----------

 

Rats limber up for Olympics after cat cull

 

 

 

Helena Smith in Athens

Saturday February 7, 2004

The Guardian

 

I've always hated rats. And there it was, the sound of rustling in

the rubbish. At first we thought it was cats, but then we glimpsed

their spindly tails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unperturbed, they were crashing around inside the cans. In the

somnolent, late-night darkness it was scary. Plaka, the heart of

historic Athens, had a rat problem, then?

 

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen a cat for some time; even my

favourite restaurateur, who once seemed to spend hours shooing them

away, had commented on the mysterious disappearance of the feline

population.

 

" Athens beautiful, Athens clean, " he grunted. " For the Olympics. "

 

So clean, I thought, watching the rats, that we now ran the risk of

contracting the plague.

 

Animal welfare groups say they have lost count of the numbers

involved in the pre-Olympic cull.

 

The local penchant for killing off unwanted cats and dogs, by lacing

food with pesticides, is not new. But in the final stretch before

the games, it has assumed an unpleasant vigour. If you're an early

riser you'll encounter the furry carcasses dumped in rubbish bins.

 

Since Socrates, the practice of neutering has been opposed in this

country on the grounds that it offends an animal's machismo. A puss

may end up drowned or poisoned, but while alive it must be allowed

to enjoy the pleasures of sex, one of my neighbours explained.

 

The population problem is not easy to tame. In central Athens alone,

an estimated 15,000 feral dogs lope about the pavements, crossroads

and the wooded limestone hills around the Acropolis. Often you'll

trip over the scrawny canines as you step into a cafe or bar. Most

are believed to be abandoned pets.

 

Given the ongoing official reluctance to enforce animal protection

laws, animal rights groups are now lobbying tourists to boycott the

games.

 

Until recently, the notion of pets being guaranteed a minimum

quality of life was about as alien in Greece as the idea that a dog

is a friend.

 

This was brought home to me when my fear of the rat tribe prompted a

visit to the local vet. I was sorry, I said, but I had spied rodents

quite near my home. Had he, perhaps, noticed that the cat population

was unusually low?

 

To my surprise he looked suspicious, and then angry. Did I not know

that, often, rats chased cats, he shot back. All this talk about

Greeks not liking animals was most unfair.

 

" In Britain, your country, they believe in euthanasia. Strays are

picked up off the streets and if they're not collected, they die, "

he said.

 

I only had to look at the recent surge in the number of pet shops in

Greece to see that attitudes towards animals had changed, he added.

 

Greeks no longer see domestic pets purely as status symbols, and the

demand for pedigrees has declined.

 

Among the young, the latest fad is the wallaby and green iguana,

both of which are readily available at your neighbourhood store.

 

" Teenagers say the iguana is really in, " says Vasso, who runs my

local pet shop. " They may grow very big - longer than two metres, "

she beams, pointing to a set of the reptiles in a small glass cage.

 

" But they're also believed to bring incredibly good luck. "