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I have lived in Greece now for 12
years and it is pure torture for me when I see how 80%
of Greek people behave towards animals.
 Since my twenties, I realized that animals have exactly
the same right as us. Except to protect your life or
to eat (We even have to take care with this one) there
are no reasons to kill or hurt any animals.
In Greece it’s not like that. One old guy of
the village, that we know said to Maria “Yes me
and my son we poison dogs from time to time, they pee
on our chair in front of our bar!”
Some people would feel like taking a gun and killing
the guy, but then you have to kill 1/2 of the village.
Most people here believe that if a dog is in your way,
just get rid of him like old table that you throw in
the bin.
It’s really difficult to understand and to imagine,
for people who respect animals, because these people
don’t even look like bad people, they don’t
even hate dogs! Animals just don’t have any meaning
for them!
 I used to hate them, not anymore, because it’s
not the point. It comes from their education here in
Greece.
When they are children, it will be always a grand mother
that will yell “be careful there is a dog” grabbing
violently her grandchildren in her arms while a small
puppy comes to say hello, his tail moving gently, I have
seen it hundred times. Then they are scared for life
and it’s difficult to like something that you are
scared of!
You will see often adults crossing the road so as to
avoid you with a small dog.
There is a very convenient legend amongst Greek people
that dogs carry a lot of dangerous diseases, doesn’t
matter if they are vaccinated or not!
Because of fashion, in Greece as well, they start to
buy pedigree dogs like status symbols to complement the
Mercedes. They usually get rid of them after 2 months,
when they realize that it’s not just an ornament
and they need care.
Epidavros theatre, spring 2001, Maria my girl friend
was working at the information desk, she and some friends
take care of the 15 dogs abandoned in the huge park.
They checked their health and with the help of some vets
had them sterilized (against advice of the town mayor).
3 weeks latter they were all dead, poisoned!
Some years after, I pick up on the road (It took me
30 minutes to get her to climb in the minibus) a superb
female (type Pyrenean Shepard) who had an accident.
I brought here to the vet (2 hours drive away), to
be operated on. She recovered at our house from the operation.
She was the most friendly of dogs you can imagine, children
love her, she did not even know how to bark.
She died, poisoned after one month. Her name was Lola.
This summer 03, Maria my girl friend called me from
our house in Greece to tell me that Julie a female dog
that we had taken care of, for two months, died after
been poisoned. Julie had give birth to 9 puppies; they
were killed before we could find them.
Julie was not very well after that, so when she recovered
we decided to have her sterilized, we arrived to collect
some money for it and the operation was fine. She stayed
at our house recovering gently; she started to go running
a bit with me.
Maria and I journeyed to France, Maria come back alone
to fine that Julie died near our house 2 days before
her arrival!
Each time that we are going to France we take as many dogs as we can (up to
12) and try to find a refuge where we know they never kill dogs even if they
have to keep them forever. We didn’t have take Julie because she was
a bit old and not really “beautiful” .
We had taken only Maya a 3 month old female abandoned on the harbor with one
broken leg (the vet told us she had been beaten...) So:
- If you like dogs for what they are and not what
they look like.
- If you have some ideas how to help them here.
- If you can help with food, collar, vaccine, or
fine places, etc
- If you are veterinaries and would like to come
over to sterilize and vaccine animal.
please contact us
Don’t forget that dogs need as much affection
as food, especially young. Give them your love; they
will give it back a 100 times. You will be their god –don’t
abuse of it.
Please don’t buy a Pedigree
dog. They are generally not very healthy and can be fragile.
If you take one in a refuge –we know it’s
not easy, you save a life! Or
his own life or the life of an other dog because of the
free space you create.
Don’t go there like in a shop to buy something precise, just let your
heart speak for you, forget the looks, the size, do not wonder if you will
look cool or virile with him.
What we do here at Epidavros? Try to help them as much
as we can. Not all our work is as bad as the related
experiences; we found places for many animals that are
now very happy.
Flying-Paradise arrives to cover most of expenses. This
is not a trick to get your money, however
if you want to give us some, it will be use ONLY for
veterinary expense. When we have an emergency or to
sterilize a dog with a local vet make us a discount.
We would like to buy a field and build a refuge, but
that’s an other story!
If you are a Veterinary
or if you know one.
Every year about 30 dogs are killed by poison, in the
village where we live. We are trying our best to help
animals –Feed them, try to find somebody to take
them, sterilize and vaccinate them, etc
We are offering 50% discount on our holidays to any
veterinaries that will come to our place to sterilize
animals part time. If you know a vet,
please pass him the message; this is either for flying
holidays or simply for a relaxing holiday.
A story of love (see picture)
In summer 06, I did something crazy. Maria and I had picked up during the spring
11 dogs, puppies and young dogs abandoned all around the village.
So in July when I had to go to Slovenia to work, I decided to take all of them
with me. So as to not see them poisoned in Greece.
I had been in Slovenia the previous winter and had brought already 3 dogs to
the local refuge, where the manager had told me, that it was no problem at
all, that they had plenty of space and that people wanted dogs.
 I rebuilt my minibus to have a big bed at medium height inside and a big space
for all the dogs below. Luckily they had learned to coop together and where
fine in this small space. I couldn’t have all of them chipped and vaccinated,
so I decided to smuggle them through the Italian and Slovenian border.
What I had not planned is that the boat to Venice (closer to the Slovenian
border) didn’t have a camping deck like the one going to Ancona, that
Maria and I normally take. So I was unable to park on an open deck and walk
the dogs. I had to carry the 11 of them in my arms from the lower deck (number
1) to the top deck (number 6) where there was the kennel!
It took me about 2 hours, and the boat staff were mad at me, because I was
attaching them anywhere on my way and coming to pick them up latter.
So when we arrive at Venice, I had already organize myself 2 hours before –with
the help of a young German girl, I had started to bring all the dogs to the
reception, which was the way the crew had told us to use to reach our car.
The problem is that the reception desk was packed with people waiting to go
to their cars to. The reception manager order me to go away with all my dogs
(imagine 11 dogs moving around on the carpet of a reception desk with 100 customers
waiting) But I fought for it and eventually I asked loudly to all the customers
(which where mostly foreigners and that many knew what I was doing with these
dogs) “DOES ANYBODY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH MY DOGS BEING HERE? And all of
them answer loudly “NO.”
When they opened the car decks, I walked down with 2 dogs in my arms while
the German girl waited with the others at the reception; my minibus was on
the lower deck. You could reach the second car deck by the inside of the boat,
but for some reason, for the lower one you had to go out of the boat , walk
along it, and then go inside again to pick up your car.
When I walk toward the exit I saw four customs officers and turned back immediately.
I thought that was the end of me!
I walked back and remembered that during the trip I had asked to go to my car
and that an officer had accompanied me using a lift!
I went back to the reception and we took all the dogs to the lift area. A crewman
told us that it was not working but then a customer arrived in a wheel chair
and they had to get it working, we pile up all the dogs with the German lady
and the guy in his wheel chair and went down. Then two by two I brought them
to the van.
I drove out of the boat in the harbor and arrived in front of the customs.
5 police /custom officers where standing there.
They had seen my French number. The same day France was playing football against
Germany and the day before Italy had won against England.
Instead of asking me my paper, they ask me “Are you going to win tonight?”
I reply: “Questo no le so, pero para hier Viva Italia (This I don’t
know, but for yesterday Bravo Italia)” They reply “Viva Francia,
endiamo” –Go.
I drove away thinking about the 11 dogs just one meter from the custom guys,
none of them had barked –and that if my hair hadn’t turned white
yet, it would probably never do!
Luckily the Slovenian border was easier.
I had a half-day swimming with the dogs in a river before I brought them to
the refuge. That’s was very difficult because I loved all of them, but
I had no choice.
I just decided to keep with me one female who was pregnant and an other female
who was older, to try to find somebody for them.
The pregnant one gave birth the very next day and we found places for all of
them within the next 2 month.
But I don’t think I do this again, at least not illegally.
I forget to mention that all these dogs had been with us for at least 3 month
and been seen by a veterinary before this trip.
One of my old friend Nickos told me “I heard about people smuggling dope,
but never about people smuggling dogs, especially for free”
I am altogether a quiet lazy guy who doesn’t want a too complicated a
life (I find my way of life easy, although my friends judge it to be extremely
difficult).
My point is that some people will give incredible effort for something that
motivates them (climb Himalayas, etc), when you will never get them to do a
similar effort just for money. And I think it’s a great quality in human
being.
I am proud of what I did, but that’s not why I did it.
There are things in life that you do for the others or for your ego –we
have all been young.
But there are few things that you do, which go beyond that and you do just
because YOU HAVE TO! It’s on your way. You felt that you didn’t
even have the choice!
That’s what I feel sometimes about what I do to help animals.
Christophe Dubois
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