Typical Beautiful Greek Shelters With Gourmet Food!

[Guest guest]

Written

by Marijo Gillis

On

Wednesday, January 21, 2004 GREEK

TV viewers

were horrified upon

seeing

the morning program of ERT 3 (The

Other Day) which

featured

the GOD awful " Animal Shelter of Northern Greece " , at Peraia,

Thessaloniki. At this 'exclusive' shelter for

abandoned and abused

animals,

amidst animal feces and carcasses, one saw emaciated dogs, most

with

appalling skin diseases, and maggot crawling in open wounds.

Viewers

saw the poor dogs fighting over a stale, filthy loaf of bread,

while

little paraplegic and blind souls desperate and terrified, dragged

themselves

in front of frightened puppies and dogs suffering in the last

stages

of Leishmaniasis, a horrifying disease, causing

intolerable

suffering. Oh, by the way, in the past,

Cannibalization has also been a

featured

item for viewing audiences.

 

For

the thousandth time, TV viewers were witnessing the blatant violation

of

all animal protection laws by 'shelters' and the indifference of the

Greek

state. What is the point of

legislation? Can someone tell us???

 

True

to form, despite this documented evidence of an Animal Auschwitz, the

Greek

government remains indifferent and mired down in inertia and perhaps

plain,

old, unadulterated inhumanity. (Let us bring up once more, the ahem,

mysterious

disappearance of thousands of abandoned dogs as the City of Athens

prepares

for the 2004 Olympic Games! and the magical disappearance of their

carcasses.)

 

A

guest featured on the morning program was Mr. Patikas, of the

Veterinaryate of Thessaloniki, who constantly referred

to the

" notorious "

new law, gazetted in July 2003 under No. 3170

entitled

" Companion

Animals, stray companion animals and other provisions " , without

even

once whispering the words " companion animals and sentient beings " ,

and

also

withholding the very pertinent fact that he represents the responsible

body

for the implementation of the new law!

 

The

same Mr. Patikas, in October 2003, after receipt of

official complaints

was

forced to inspect the above mentioned shelter and concluded that

everything

was perfectly in order! Perhaps

this gentleman is missing a

chromosome?

 

Furthermore,

throughout the duration of the program, Mr. Patikas

failed to

explain

how, after only two and a half months, the disgusting situation

which

the camera was revealing shot-by-shot, had developed. Naturally, he

did

not see fit to propose immediate intervention by the authorities to

relieve

the animals' suffering, although the health and welfare of animals

is

his responsibility. Needless to

say, he did not inform viewers where

the

dead animals were buried!

 

It

would seem that in Greece,

laws are voted in parliament to justify

the

existence and salaries of the 300 MP's; thus law 3170 was passed - full

of

promise - but without the slightest infrastructure for its

implementation. Yet another law to seduce and mislead

and destined for the

rat

eaten files of the House of Parliament, as is the travesty of a law,

whose

provision defines that the state reply within 15 days to a citizen's

written

request. Otherwise a certain

concerned party would have received a

reply

to her letter of September 4, 2003 in which she complained about the

reprehensible

conditions in the above shelter. " Concerned party " addressed

her

letter of complaint to Prime Minister Simitis,

Agriculture Minister,

Drys,

New Democracy Party Chairman

Karamanlis, Agriculture Deputy Minister

Hadjimichalis,

Prefect of Thessaloniki

MPsomiades, and Director of Vetate

Thessaloniki Patikas, Mayor

of Peraia Mantzari, Mayor

of Corfu

Mastoras, of Vet Directorate Corfu and the Prefect of Corfu

Machmari.

 

If

the Fathers of the Nation are not disturbed when, through their own

failings,

Europe considers us barbarians, rude and

arrogant Balkans, they

should

not be disturbed at the boycott of the Olympic Games and the influx

of

hooligan tourists at the summer resorts.

 

A

call a " spade a spade " Greek animal rights organization, " run by

a

phenomenal

Greek, raised abroad, is waiting to see whether the famous Greek

'filotimo' (reciprocal duty to honor) exists...Because if it

does, then

every

member of the Pan Hellenic Veterinary Association should undertake

without

charge, blood testing, treatment and neutering of the animals at

should

undertake in view of the promises made at their meeting in 2000. As

for

the Veterinary School

of the University

of Thessaloniki,

it should

always

actively contribute towards relieving the plight of the stray

animals.

In

2004, the year of 'Volunteering', the government should encourage in

every

possible way those distinguished veterinary surgeons of the European

Union

(amidst them, professors of renowned universities) who offer their

services

free of charge throughout the country, to neuter and treat

desperately

sick stray animals. On the

contrary, with it’s indescribably

idiotic

bureaucracy, the government is, indirectly, ensuring that no such

help

shall be available to the strays, ever.

God help the animals of Greece.

This article was written on January 24, 2004. As of August

26th, this typical Greek shelter with “Gourmet Food” is

still in operation.