Stray animals

What I can see

The term basically describes ownerless dogs and cats, even though there are many more animals that are part of the wild fauna of Athens, such as tortoises. Most of the stray dogs of Athens can be seen on Panepistimiou Street, Syntagma Square and the districts of Exarchia, Monastiraki and Gkazi. They are outnumbered by cats in Thissio and Plaka, where –especially in Plaka– cats blend in with the insular architecture of Anafiotika, which lends a Cycladic tone to the city. Tortoises live in the Ancient Agora area, the Library of Hadrian, the archaeological site of Keramikos and on Filopappou Hill.

What I can't see

Some of them have gained pop status, like Kanelos and Babis in the past, and more recently, the famous Loukanikos. Kanelos was known for staying on the side of protesters during marches and for volunteering as a guard dog on the old campus of the National Technical University of Athens. During the riots of 2008 and due to the excessive use of tear gas, Kanelos, who had already reached old age, was not able to physically cope and died. His successor Loukanikos frequented the areas of Exarchia and Panepistimio. Loukanikos was even voted one of Time Magazine’s most influential “people” of 2011. Babis on the other hand, was nicknamed “traffic officer”. He lived around Syntagma and would only cross the street from the crosswalk and only when the pedestrian green light was on. He died in 2012. Many more of the city’s well-known stray dogs exhibited similar inventiveness and adapted well to urban daily life. In the 19^th century, stray animals were considered a public health problem in Athens, mostly due to the threat of the spread of rabies. The problem reappeared after the rapid urbanization of the city, during the sixties and seventies. Most Athenians hail from rural areas, where pets and cattle were allowed to roam free in the countryside and only kept indoors at night. The same attitude was adopted by residents of the city, without adequate precautions for the dangers that animals would confront. Since 2003 however, there have been organized efforts to reduce the phenomenon of stray animals and to protect them adequately. However, their health is inevitably hampered and their life expectancy reduced by 2/3 on average.

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