ASPCA Joins International Animal Welfare Community

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ASPCA Joins International Animal Welfare Community in Condemning

Mass Killing of Stray Dogs In Greece

 

(New York, NY) – August 2, 2004 – The ASPCA is joining the

international animal welfare community in condemning the deliberate

and inhumane killing of thousands of homeless dogs in the city of

Athens. It is believed that up to 80% of the estimated 30,000 to

50,000 stray dogs living in the streets of Athens have been poisoned

in the past few weeks in an effort to eliminate the population prior

to the beginning of the 2004 Olympic Games on August 13. It is

reported that dogs are being fed food laced with rat poison, causing

a slow and excruciating death over a period of several days.

Videotape shot by the organization Welfare for Animals Global

recently captured some of the more gruesome and disturbing methods

being utilized on the city streets of Athens to kill dogs.

 

" The inhumane and archaic methods of population control reportedly

being implemented in the city of Athens are simply not acceptable in

the year 2004, " said ASPCA President Edwin J. Sayres. " The ASPCA

stands with the international humane community in expressing our

disappointment with the Greek government for their lack of

compassion and desire to eradicate thousands stray dogs from their

city in advance of the Olympic Games. "

 

The international Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals (RSPCA) recently sent a representative to Athens and is

helping to train Greek officials to deal with the epidemic stray

problem humanely. For more information on how you can help the

strays in Greece, please visit www.rspca.org.