Judgment day for strays before 2004
In line with general efforts to spruce up Athens and make it more functional for the 2004 Olympics, the government is considering ways of dealing with the stray dogs that haunt the capital. The government says there are about 50,000 strays, while animal rights groups claim the number is much greater and that the Agriculture Ministry will carry out mass euthanasia as the Games approach. The Ministry is soon to announce a bill dealing with the issue but still has not determined how it will solve two major problems: what it will do with strays that have been collected and how high license fees will be for owners. Regarding 2004, Deputy Agriculture Minister Fotis Hadzimichalis told Kathimerini «there will be an effective collection of animals, especially at the places where many people will assemble. There is no possibility, however, of there not being any animals left anywhere.» The president of the veterinarians’ association, Costas Handras, suggested a mass sterilization program. «The animals can be neutered and then returned to the areas where they lived. The average stray’s life is 2-3 years, which means that with neutering and euthanasia of those suffering from incurable diseases the population will gradually drop significantly,» he said. Hadzimichalis said this was not always feasible as strays might have been picked up outside a hospital or the meat market. «In European countries, they collect the animals and hold them for seven days in case anyone wants to adopt one. Otherwise, they put them to sleep. We will not do this,» he said.
