Greece dogged by castoff pets
Many pet owners continue to abandon their cats and dogs in the streets despite a scheme to tag domestic animals, veterinarians and animal lovers told Kathimerini yesterday on the occasion of World Animal Day today. According to estimates there are currently some 100,000 stray animals wandering the city and 300,000 in the whole of Greece. «This shows the practice of abandoning animals that do not suit us anymore has not disappeared,» said Liana Alexandri, the director of the Greek Animal Lovers Society. Greece now enforces a law that requires pets to be tagged but only some 90,000 animals have had a microchip implanted. About 2 million Greeks own pets. «In the first few months, quite a few people submitted their pets to the process but now the only people who come forward are the new owners of puppies,» said Lambros Antoniadis, a member of the Greek Veterinary Association.
