No overnight solution to stray over-population
IN REPLY to the letter entitled “Money ‘better spent’ putting
strays to sleep” (January 6). Euthanasia, as a means to
get animals off the streets will not solve the problem; other
animals (more dogs, rats etc) will move into that same area in
no time. Ethically, euthanasia should be used only to end the
suffering of the terminally ill (for example, untreatable cases
of Kala-azar) and the seriously aggressive; it is not meant for
population control.
Getting a handle on the over-population of strays is not a one-step
solution. There are several steps in resolving this problem,
including people who currently own animals being responsible
by spaying/neutering and identifying their own dogs and cats;
providing humane education in the school system, beginning as
early as age 10; providing low-cost spay/neuter surgery clinics
for use by both owners and animal rescue volunteers; and strict
enforcement of the recently published law 3170. Any one step
mentioned above will not provide a long-term solution.
There is no guarantee how long
a stray will survive on the streets, even now. But, if sterilised,
it will not be adding to the already
out-of-control stray population and in time, in this case likely
7-10 years, there will be a very noticeable and positive improvement
for both owned and stray animals in Greece. This has been proven
in other countries where they’ve implemented catch-neuter-release
programmes in conjunction with other similar policies. It won’t
happen overnight, nor in all of Greece at the same time. But,
with education available to both children and adults and cooperation
amongst municipalities, veterinarians, animal welfare groups
and the general public, life for animals, as well as humans (for
example, no longer frustrated or feeling threatened by packs
of roaming dogs), can improve dramatically.
The author of the letter, Viv Cole, is a dog owner who has,
thankfully, accepted responsibility for her dogs and had them
sterilised. By doing so she is part of the solution, not part
of the problem, and perhaps, by encouraging others to do the
same, she will be helping control the numbers of unwanted litters
born and educating the public as well. Thank you, Ms Cole, for
setting an example.
Dianne Aldan Greek Animal Rescue, Toronto
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Eliminating the gene that makes people dump pets
OVER the last few years I have read time and time again in newspapers
horrific stories concerning the treatment - or rather mistreatment
- of animals by the Greek people, stories sometimes accompanied
by photographs of dogs, in particular, that have been shot, hanged,
poisoned or just abandoned to become road kills. I have read
letters from as far away as England, Germany, Canada, America
and Australia all condemning this revolting treatment of animals,
but these are presumably not read by Greek politicians - those
who write do not have a vote in Greece so can safely be ignored.
An election has recently been announced, so now is the time
for the vociferous writers to the Athens News to re-direct their
fire to the politicians and tweak their consciences before the
issue is passed by for another four years.
I read in the Athens News of the new law requiring pets to be
registered and micro-chipped. Given the forlorn hope that this
law will be implemented, there is an opportunity to apply some
lateral thinking to the problems condemned by so many writers.
Instead of rounding up and neutering
the stray animals (or even putting them down humanely), how
about rounding up and neutering
the individuals responsible for the horrendous problems they
cause? Applying Darwinian principles, if this was done to ‘owners’ who
could not account for the disappearance of their ‘pets’ then
the genes that compel certain Greeks to behave so irresponsibly
would be eliminated from the population and the problem would
eventually disappear.
Paul Smith Hania, Crete
