Friends of Animals / Filozoikos NF

Kits Kitty started this blog last year when there was so much excitement in the animal welfare movement in Greece. Events and stories needed to be told and there was time in the day to spread the news through the website, this blog, and through Facebook. Since her return from Canada last year, it has been almost impossible to keep up with everything that is happening at the shelter and in the animal welfare movement using all these formats - it is just too time consuming - so please join our Facebook Group “Filozoikos Nea Filadelphia / Friends of Animals NF” to daily updates. She promises to be back here soon with more writing and stories in the future!

This funny looking cat - yes she is small for her age, her head is a little too big for her body, her tail is a little short, and there is a leg missing - needs a home. She is around 2 years old and came to us with a destroyed leg and was sent immediately for amputation surgery. We did not know at the time she was just barely pregnant.

As her stump healed she got bigger and we thought it was from inactivity so she went to the vet for her follow-up visit and he pronounced pregnancy. Because of her immobility - due to the surgery and the small cage that she lives in - her surviving back leg did not have the muscle power to hold her body up to walk. She was sterilized and returned to her cage.

Now she is in foster care and warming up to people. In fact now that she has discovered the deliciousness of squishy jellied cat food she enjoys spending her afternoons sucking all the jelly off the food and then sharing the rest with her foster brother! She is coming out of her shyness and now demands her afternoon jelly before heading off to the couch races with the others. If you can Trina a home please call her foster Mom at 699-591-7437.

NEW DATE FOR CUTTING OF PUPPY PITA is SUNDAY, JANUARY 17TH - 3pm-5pm

When we rescued the 6 new black puppies they were heavily infested with intestinal worms and had just finished their 3rd round of de-worming treatment when they developed serious diarrhea. Blood tests were taken and a course of preventative antibiotics were administered. They are feeling better today but are still sick this morning and will not be available for playing with today at the Open House. To ensure the safety of the other puppies and dogs at the Shelter, we must wait until the tests are back and treatment is given before having a party for them. So we move the date one week and hopefully everyone will be able to make it!

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=agapi+dog&init=quick#/video/video.php?v=242460729173&ref=nf

There are so many bigger problems in this country to deal with than taking time out of ones day to care for the survival of a street light pole! The poisoner claims that the dogs are peeing on the pole and this must stop. Is he worried the pole will die or get sick? Ridiculous man. The police were called and they came!

www.zougla.gr/page.ashx?pid=2&aid=92759&cid=17

This message is for the retired policeman who was dragging his horse behind the car and when it fell down he didn’t stop and after 2 km he threw the horse to the side of the road and the horse died in terrible pain after the veterinarian did euthanasia. The horse was pregnant and her killer is until yet not punished he goes around free even when he should be in prison! please send letter to all those responsible to be punished this man! the adresses are

1. Minister of environment,energy and climate change = minister: Birbili Tina
email: service@dorg.minenv.gr
Fax: 210-6447608
tel: 213-1515000
adress: Amaliados 17 11523 ATHENS

2. Papandreoy George
email: dialogue@politicalforum.gr
contact: http://www.papandreou.gr/papandreou/content/contact.aspx?l=2&citizen=1

3. Katerina Batzeli (minister for animals)
http://www.kbatzeli.gr/
tel: 210-3626280
Fax: : 210-3626288
email: kbatz[at]otenet.gr
adress: Amerikis 20 ,5th floor 10671 ATHENS

4. Mixalis Karximakis (minister for animals)
http://www.karximakis.gr/epikoinonia.html
E-mail: karximakis@parliament.gr
tel: 210 36 13 190
Fax: 210 36 15 552
adress: Solonos 45 and Omiroy ATHENS

and pictures of the horse are at this site
http://www.zougla.gr/page.ashx?pid=2&aid=92759&cid=17
please help us to help the animals !

Poli Papa 09 Ιανουαρίου στις 11:15 μ.μ.
Tην Κυριακή 3 Ιανουαρίου 2010 , τις μεσημεριανές ώρες και βάσει αυτόπτων μαρτυριών, κάτοικος του χωριού Πλάτανος του δήμου Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας(συνταξιούχος αστυνομικός ,σύμφωνα με τα δημοσιεύματα) και ιδιοκτήτης του άτυχου ζώου ,έδεσε στο αυτοκίνητό του το άλογό του και το έσυρε στην άσφαλτο. Παρόλο που το άκακο ζώο έπεσε, ο οδηγός του αυτοκινήτου συνέχισε να αναπτύσσει ταχύτητα επί 2 χιλιόμετρα ,με αποτέλεσμα το άλογο να σπάσει τα δύο μπροστινά του πόδια, το δέρμα του να φύγει από την μία πλευρά του , να αιμορραγεί ακατάσχετα από μια μεγάλη τρύπα στην κοιλιά του από την οποία φαινόταν τα εντόσθιά του. Το άτυχο ζώο παρέμεινε ζωντανό με φρικτούς πόνους βγάζοντας κραυγές. Το άλογο ήταν έγκυος. Η τοπική κτηνίατρος που κλήθηκε από τους κατοίκους, αποφάσισε ευθανασία του άτυχου ζώου για να το απαλλάξει από το μαρτύριό του.

Ο ιδιοκτήτης ,μετά την αποτρόπαια πράξη του, σταμάτησε το αυτοκίνητο ,έλυσε το άλογο και το πέταξε σε χαντάκι δίπλα στο δρόμο, κραυγάζοντας αλλά ζωντανό. Μπήκε στο αυτοκίνητό του ,ανέπτυξε ταχύτητα και έφυγε. Αυτόπτες μάρτυρες κατήγγελλαν τον ιδιοκτήτη και την πράξη του στην αστυνομία ,η οποία αδιαφόρησε για την καταγγελία.Κυκλοφορεί ελέυθερος και σύμφωνα με τοπικά blogs ,παινευόταν για την πράξη του . Σύμφωνα επίσης με ένα γκρουπ στο facebook που δημιουργήθηκε με αφορμή αυτό το αποτρόπαιο έγκλημα (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=239939244197) προσπαθούν όλοι να το συγκαλήψουν ..παρόλο που πήρε τόση μεγάλη δημοσιότητα το θέμα.

Με τον ισχύον νόμο , παρόλο που δημοσιοποιήθηκε το γεγονός, ο ιδιοκτήτης του ζώου το μόνο που θα πληρώσει(αν πληρώσει) είναι λίγα ευρώ για εξαγορά των λίγων ημερών φυλάκισης.

Αφιερώστε μισή ώρα από το χρόνο σας και καταγράψτε μια επιστολή στους αρμόδιους υπουργούς και στον πρωθυπουργό και στείλτε τη στις παρακάτω διευθύνσεις.

Είναι χρέος μας να προστατέψουμε δεκάδες χιλιάδες ζώα που κακοποιούνται αυτήν την στιγμή στην Ελλάδα. Οι πολίτες διαμορφώνουν το κράτος που τους αρμόζει….

Ζητάμε :
1.ανοιχτό διάλογο με την συντονιστική φιλοζωικών σωματείων για να καταγραφούν τα προβλήματα και οι λύσεις τους
2. Θεσμοθέτηση νέου νόμου όπου θα προβλέπονται:
α) δράσεις από το κράτος ,τις τοπικές αυτοδιοικήσεις και την αστυνομία ,
β) υποχρεώσεις ιδιοκτητών ζώων
γ) αυστηρές ποινές στους παραβάτες του νόμου
δ) μετατροπή της κακοποίησης ζώου από πλημμέλημα σε κακούργημα

1. Minister of envirment,energy and climate change =
minister: Birbili Tina
email: service@dorg.minenv.gr
Fax: 210-6447608
tel: 213-1515000
adress: Amaliados 17 11523 ATHENS

2. Papandreoy George
email: dialogue@politicalforum.gr
contact:http://www.papandreou.gr/papandreou/content/contact.aspx?l=2&citizen=1

3. Katerina Batzeli (minister for animals)
http://www.kbatzeli.gr/
tel: 210-3626280
Fax: : 210-3626288
email: kbatz[at]otenet.gr
adress: Amerikis 20 ,5th floor 10671 ATHENS

4. Mixalis Karximakis (minister for animals)
http://www.karximakis.gr/epikoinonia.html
E-mail: karximakis@parliament.gr
tel: 210 36 13 190
Fax: 210 36 15 552
adress: Solonos 45 and Omiroy ATHENS

Lordos’ Mommy just died and he needs adoptive parents asap!

He is much too small to be at the Shelter sleeping outside with all those big street dogs. He is a 3 year old purebred Griffon, fully trained and vaccinated.

Call Kiki if you can foster today or adopt. 694-494-9741.

Over Christmas there were many horrifying events that transpired that we are all hearing about now that people at back at work and on the internet.

1. The Story of Agapi, (www.facebook.com/search/?q=agapi+dog&init=quick#/photo.php?pid=2935718&id=545039069)beloved dog of animal welfare activist Julie Tsiakmakis and her family, poisoned on New Years Eve. Following is a message from Vesna Jones of GAR. It would be most effective if you wrote a summary of her letter to the addresses listed in GREEK and faxed (rather than emailed) so that there is a hard copy in the language of the government waiting for them in the morning.

From: VESNA JONES

Please write to the Mayor of Kalandra (an area of Halkidiki, northern Greece), Mr Aristidis Kanelis: otakas1@otenet.gr and demand (politely) that the sale of lethal pesticides and other poisons is banned or at the very least strictly controlled and certainly not made easy to purchase by the general public. The death of dear AGAPI - a beautiful and much loved dog - on New Year’s eve, close to the school in the village of Kalandra, has deeply upset everybody who knew and loved her…… My letter to Mr Kanelis:

POISONED DOG IN KALANDRA (village in Halkidiki)
Email and/or fax the Mayor of Kalandra,
Mr Aristidis Kanelis
email address: otakas1@otenet.gr
FAX: +30 23740 23902

Dear Mr Kanelis,

As you will have heard by now, a dog was poisoned in the small village of Kalandra on New Year’s eve, just outside the local school, while children were singing Christmas carols outside people’s houses. The dog in question was Agapi, a much loved pet of Julie Tsiakmakis and her family, who are devastated by her death. Having met the beautiful dog myself while visiting the family last summer, I was very upset to hear the tragic news. Why would anybody want to poison any animal is beyond my comprehension, but I also wonder how can it be possible for just any person to get hold of poisonous substances so easily in Greece!!

Sadly poisoning of stray (and owned!) animals is widespread throughout Greece and the poisons used are very often farm pesticides like Lannate, which cause agonising death. I think it’s high time for the Greek authorities all over Greece to take responsible action and inspect on a regular basis farm supply stores, garden centres and similar businesses to check that they are not breaking the laws relating to the sale of dangerous and/or banned chemicals. I have seen rat poison and toxic chemicals on sale in a pet shop near Athens and I could have purchased any amount, no questions asked. It is truly a miracle that there have not (yet!) been any cases of young children being ‘accidentally’ poisoned …. is that what it would take to make people aware of how lethal these chemicals are?

Mr Kanelis, as you are aware, thanks to Julie’s efforts (getting dogs and cats sterilised and rehoming as many as possible), there are no strays in Kalandra and many fewer in other areas of Kassandria than there used to be in the past. This is good news both for the Greek residents (including their Mayors!) and the visiting tourists, many of whom get upset by the sights of hungry and sick strays, a common sight in most Greek cities, villages and holiday resorts. The work of animal welfare volunteers like Julie should be commended and supported. I hope that you will publicly condemn the callousness of the person responsible for Agapi’s death and do your utmost to identify and prosecute them for the vile crime they had committed. That person brought shame on the village and all its inhabitants.

Yours respectfully,
Vesna Jones (Founder and President of GAR)

Rumble in the Mongrel Jungle
By Despoina Pavlaki

How does a person with no known affinities in the animal kingdom suddenly decide to mangle their lifestyle over a mongrel?

Barring childrearing, the next worst thing you can do for your beauty sleep is dogs. They wake up early and they need to love you all day long. And if you want to love them back, you need to jump out of bed, put your running shoes on and take (them) to the hills. In my case, it was the hills that did the damage in the first place. Living near Philopappou does afford you certain luxuries, such as immersing yourself in soothing greenery first thing in the morning while practicing the world’s cheapest sport: running. At first it was just me and my shoes, but after a while I started noticing things. Dogs would suddenly run out of the foliage and tag along, other people’s dogs who seemed happier and a lot more in touch with nature, even though I was the one doing all the sweating.

I took that feeling home with me and gradually watched it grow into something akin to mild curiosity. I even found myself eyeing poodles –a literal pet peeve of mine – and their besotted owners with a little less distaste than I used to. Having grown up in a household where animals were only mentioned in recipes, I didn’t even know what kind of dog could survive my apartment: oven-big (Labradors, German Shepherds etc), average casserole size (Beagles, Cocker Spaniels and so on) or skillet-worthy (Pekingese, Chihuahuas or even Dachshunds)? Little did I know that animals were a lot more than just sports accessories.

Sniffing Around
So on I went, surfing the wave of misguided pet love, convinced I could handle just about anything you threw at me. Even a little blonde mongrel with acute motion sickness. But first I went sniffing around the purebred kingdom. I still wonder why, when the cheapest Cocker Spaniel went for no less than 400 Euros, except the one given away at my local video store, but I’m pretty sure there was a good reason behind that generous little gesture. Demonic dog possession springs to mind. Plus, Greece does boast 300.000 strays of its own.

‘As consumers, we buy what we know. Television and movies usually use breed dogs for their characters as they represent stereotypes of behavior. The same as we can tell the ‘bad guy’ from the ‘good guy’ just from how they look’, explains Helen 43, a former independent contractor from Canada now in charge of volunteers, online content, marketing, creative fundraising and cake & cookie baking for bazaars at the Friends of Animals Nea Filadelphia. “We see a Jack Russell and think ‘this is a fun energetic and clever dog’, we see a Labrador and think ‘this is man’s best friend - loyal and devoted until death’, a poodle ’silly little pampered pet’ or the ’savage’ pit bull. So when people think about getting a dog, they think they should get one that represents them because they see the dog as an extension of themselves.’

Monetary limitations and a good talking-to by some of my more sensible friends soon brought me to my senses and put me on the mongrel track. Selflessness aside (why buy when you can rescue?), street dogs were bound to be well-behaved cause nobody else wanted them, right? It all made perfect sense. Now all I had to do was move fast. Just like having a baby, if you think about it too much you’re never gonna do it. Hence my e-mail to the Friends of Animals Nea Filadelphia who not only got back to me in record time and drove me to their shelter and back, they even delivered the pup to my doorstep when a torrential rain almost became the perfect excuse to back out. But they weren’t having any of that. Three nice ladies showed up on my doorstep with my mutt of choice, a blonde car-sick little thing that would soon make my life a living hell. Thanks girls.

Hell on Wheels
Pancake, as I immediately named her, didn’t do any of the obvious stuff. She never ate my patent leather shoes, chewed on my furniture or bark. You wouldn’t even know she was there if it wasn’t for the accidents. The first week I took her to Philopappou she managed to insert herself between my feet causing the first in a series of twisted ankles that would sabotage my short-lived running career. But the best was yet to come. One night on the prowl - me shuffling along on my bandaged limb and her prowling around the garbage - I got mugged. Another first.

It was a bit more violent than I’d expected, as I was determined to keep my bag and he was determined to snatch it, which meant an excess amount of tugging, pushing and pulling on both sides. He eventually gave up, but not before he bestowed a variety of muscle sprains and ruptures upon my back and shoulders. Which of course led to a neck brace and a burning question: where was Pancake during all this? She’d gotten scared and run off! Of course she had. Still, I had to spend the next two weeks figuring out a way to double over and clean up her un-potty trained mess without causing further damage to my anatomy. And yet everybody loved her.

All You Need is Love
My next-door neighbors had practically begged me to dog-sit. My sister had gone gaga over her in a way I had never seen my sister go gaga before (not a pretty sight). The building administrator was offering dog tips instead of eviction notices. My hard-as-nails mother would coo every time she threw up in her car and even my father was making a worthy effort to keep his animal repulsion in check by building her a pretty doggy house (which she later ate). And people were talking to me. They were striking up conversations left and right, on the hill, in the park even in the store when they saw me picking up dog food. I felt more at home in the street than I did in my own apartment.

The instant connection you’d feel to a random stranger just because they took time to pat your dog deserves an entire psychological study of its own. Pancake went on to methodically destroy my apartment (carpets, floor lamps, plants, walls) and gain ten kilos while I got fitter and happier the more work she made for me. It’s been four months now and my father still offers to kick her out and people sometimes look at me funny when I pick up incontinence bed pads from the grocery store (way cheaper that doggie diapers!), but I guess I can live with that. What I can’t live without is my dog.

Gimme Shelter
The Friends of Animals Nea Filadelphia shelter, run by the wonderful Ms Kiki and a handful of other women, is currently hosting around 60 dogs and a multitude of cats, all up for adoption. On-site volunteering opportunities are limited, unless you’d like to join their unique dog-walking program, but you can always help Helen out with creative fundraising, baking goodies for bazaars, looking for adoptive pet parents and coordinating activities.

The NF shelter is one of the most active animal societies in Athens and even organizes dog blessings if you’re so inclined, provided by pet loving Anglican or Orthodox priests. The next one is scheduled for February 14th, Valentine’s Day, and you can find out more by contacting help@friendsofanimals-nf.com

For general information, please visit: friendsofanimals-nf.com