Author Topic: A dog's life  (Read 4775 times)

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Online Maik

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A dog's life
« on: Thursday, 15 October, 2015 @ 13:04:06 »
Quote
In search of Greece's riot dog, Loukanikos
...a stray dog who became the symbol of Greece's anti-austerity movement. How can a dog become a symbol of the people? What can a dog teach us about dignity and hope?

On my very first day in Athens, I came across a somewhat bloated white and ginger dog sprawled across the marble steps of Athens' most expensive hotel, the Grande Bretagne. I thought he was dead because of the heat. Expensively clad tourists and Athenians seemed to ignore or step over him. I felt indignant: how could they disregard this dead animal? I started to believe the stereotypes about Greek people being careless and carefree, but I'm glad I was proven wrong.

Later that day, I found out that the dog was one of the many stray dogs of Athens, and that he was very much alive. His name is Glykas which means 'sweetie' in Greek. Athens' stray dogs live all around Syntagma Square, the city's hub of social and political life. I couldn't help but wonder if Glykas was protesting his conditions by choosing to make his home on the steps of the city's most expensive hotel, across the road from the Greek parliament.

I noticed that the stray dogs seemed to inhabit the city like nowhere else in the world—they are considered 'citizens' of the city. They are tagged and vaccinated by the municipality, but it's the people who love, feed and take care of them. Despite often being poor or homeless themselves, they take great pride in looking after the street animals. I witnessed a very special human-animal bond.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/radiotonic/in-search-of-greeces-riot-dog-loukanikos/6854042

Offline TonyKath

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Re: A dog's life
« Reply #1 on: Thursday, 15 October, 2015 @ 22:31:15 »
Great article with triffic pics - but don't think she found Loukanikos.

Tony

Offline jeanskala

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Re: A dog's life
« Reply #2 on: Friday, 16 October, 2015 @ 15:24:15 »
Quote
In search of Greece's riot dog, Loukanikos
...a stray dog who became the symbol of Greece's anti-austerity movement. How can a dog become a symbol of the people? What can a dog teach us about dignity and hope?

On my very first day in Athens, I came across a somewhat bloated white and ginger dog sprawled across the marble steps of Athens' most expensive hotel, the Grande Bretagne. I thought he was dead because of the heat. Expensively clad tourists and Athenians seemed to ignore or step over him. I felt indignant: how could they disregard this dead animal? I started to believe the stereotypes about Greek people being careless and carefree, but I'm glad I was proven wrong.

Later that day, I found out that the dog was one of the many stray dogs of Athens, and that he was very much alive. His name is Glykas which means 'sweetie' in Greek. Athens' stray dogs live all around Syntagma Square, the city's hub of social and political life. I couldn't help but wonder if Glykas was protesting his conditions by choosing to make his home on the steps of the city's most expensive hotel, across the road from the Greek parliament.

I noticed that the stray dogs seemed to inhabit the city like nowhere else in the world—they are considered 'citizens' of the city. They are tagged and vaccinated by the municipality, but it's the people who love, feed and take care of them. Despite often being poor or homeless themselves, they take great pride in looking after the street animals. I witnessed a very special human-animal bond.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/radiotonic/in-search-of-greeces-riot-dog-loukanikos/6854042

Great animal news, at last! Well done Athenians, now show or tell the people in other cities/towns how good it feels to take care of innocents