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Interview with Vesna Jones on Zougla.gr
Vesna Jones, founder of Greek Animal Rescue, was recently interviewed by Zougla.gr. The interview appears on Zougla's website and you can read the full article in Greek HERE Below is an English translation of the interview. For more than 20 years a charity has existed in England whose sole purpose is to care for mistreated animals in Greece. The barbaric situation that prevails in Greece extends beyond its borders and thousands of disappointed and angry tourists report incidents of cruelty to the charity concerned, who attempt to rescue as many animals as it can. Families are found to adopt the unfortunate animals - outside Greece of course. The activities of the charity include supporting shelters economically, sterilisation projects and putting pressure (in vain usually) on the responsible authorities. The charity spends 150,000 euros annually achieving these aims. |
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The idea for founding this charity belongs to Vesna Jones, a British woman of Slovenian origin, who was appalled when she first visited Greece in 1987 and realised that the country that gave birth to culture was also number one when it comes to barbarity towards animals. Zougla.gr: Why did you select Greece specifically for your work? Did you believe the problem was so huge here?
I had travelled in several other European countries, but had never seen anything approaching the situation in your country - and this was strange to me, because since 1981 Greece has been a member of the European Union and has progressed a lot - at least in terms of infastructure. In regard to animals, I didn't expect to encounter this third world situation....." Zougla.gr: How does your charity operate? Who benefits from it?
Zougla.gr: Do you recommend that people not visit Greece because of this situation? Do you believe the ill - treatment of animals represents the culture of the entire population or is simply the actions of a few sick minds? Vesna Jones: We do not suggest that people boycott Greece, but when they ask me what the situation is in Greece with regards to animals, I reply that it is heartbreaking and that tourists who are sensitive to the needs of animals should remain close to their hotel or beach if they want to remain unaware of this barbaric phenomena. A hugh cause for concern is that Greeks in gereneral, are opposed to sterilsation and consider it an unnatural interference with nature, while at the same time they are happy to abandon unwanted animals, often alive, thrown into waste containers. Do you not consider this not only unnatural but also barbaric?
Zougla.gr: What you would suggest to the Greek authorities and to Greek citizens in order to improve the situation? Vesna Jones: Number one priority is the implementation of existing laws! The government must promote them by the use of advertisements and appropriate education in schools. The root of a lot of problems relating to animal welfare in Greece is that privately owned dogs and cats are not sterilised. Thousands of animals, mainly dogs, are mistreated or left to die in frightful conditions only because their parents were not sterilised as they should have been. The directive in Law 3170/03 requires all dogs to be microchipped! It should have been enforced before the Olympic Games in 2004, but in reality few dogs are microchipped. If people were forced to microchip all dogs they own, then fewer dogs would be abandoned to their fate. Finally, the government should set up a special department to undertake the cases of ill-treatment, neglect and abandonment of animals. I am sure that the income raised by the fines issued by this department would not only suffice for the running costs of the department but would also constitute a source of income for the country itself. In addition to the pioneering, but unfortunately unenforced law passed before the Olympic Games, there are significant loopholes in the legislation in Greece relating to animals.
To be more specific law 1300/1982 imposes a prison sentence of at least two years and a fine for anybody stealing cattle or killing horses, sheep, cattle, pigs and bees, whereas Law 1197/1981 imposes a prison sentence of up to six months and a fine for killing companion animals (dogs, cats etc) i.e. killing a goat, in a fenced area is punished with a prison sentence of at least two years, but killing of dog that looks after a flock goats is punished with imprisonment of up to six months. This legal frame indicates exactly how we have commercialised everything. What makes money is protected, but things of more sentimental value are hardly protected at all. We have exchanged our soul for a pork chop and a beef burger." |
Vesna Jones: On a visit to your beautiful country, in 1987, we entered Greece by road on its northern border.
The more we drove, the more cases of ill-treatment of animals we saw, even from inside our car! We were shocked as
much by the conditions dogs were kept in, chained up, as we were by all the dead animals on the roads. The nightmare,
however, was Crete. I would never have expected to witness so many heartbreaking sights!!
Vesna Jones: First of all, we support a number of shelters - which in most cases
have been set up and are run by foreign nationals married to Greeks. We
sterilise as many animals as finances permit. We help to rehome some
animals, even in Britain. I personally have 7 dogs from your country
and we pay for the needs of various animals. I also regard as very
important the pressure that we put on the Greek authorities who are frequently phoned or sent letters,
which are, unfortunately, usually ignored. On the rare occassions anyone receives a response it usually includes a series of lies
aimed only at appeasing tourists enraged by the situation in Greece. On average we spend 150,000
euros a year helping animals in Greece, though we realise that this constitutes only a drop in the ocean in
comparison to the size of the problem.
I have many Greek friends who work extremely hard to save as many animals as they can, but for each step forward I see two steps backwards!!
Greece has adequate animal welfare laws
yet they are very rarely if ever enforced and thus improvement in the situation is never seen!
My hope rests in the young people who I believe will behave more responsibly than their elders.
Zougla. gr spoke with the lawyer from the Edessa, Konstantinos Karyophyllidi who is well known for his animal welfare activities.
His comment on the situation followsAdded: 1st September 2010