Animal Help Chalki

[Helmut]

A few days ago the Animal Help Chalki sent this letter to the Mayor of Halki.

E-Mail
to the <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

Mayor
of the Island of Halki / Dodekanes<o:p></o:p>

Mr.
Michalis Patros<o:p></o:p>

CC:
To our English and German friends<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

Dear
Mr. Mayor, dear Michali,<o:p></o:p>

concerning
the protection of animals in Chalki, this year has begun very badly. We just
heard that somebody has poisoned cats again – specifically the cats which had
been fed by Jorgos on the piazza. The poisoned cats had all been neutered and
treated against parasites and infections etc.<o:p></o:p>

According
to the law 4039/2012 (FEK A-15/2-2-2012) article 16, paragraph A, the poisoning
of animals is absolutely forbidden in Greece. Article 20, paragraph 2, sues
this illegal action with 5.000 to 15.000 Euros. It is the official and legal
task of the Dimo to inform the inhabitants of Halki about these new regulations
concerning the protection of animals.<o:p></o:p>

It
cannot be futile to inform people about laws which have to be followed.<o:p></o:p>

By
means of our animal protection actions, we intend to help the Dimo to develop
Halki in a way that it can live on tourism – and this will probably offer the
only future prospects for such a small island.<o:p></o:p>

As
you know, Animal Help Halki does not
only take care of cats but also of dogs which have become a sort of hobby of
quite a lot of inhabitants of Halki. Last year, in our letter to the
inhabitants, we warned against the problems which will arise from too many domestic
dogs. Unfortunately, our concerns became reality: dogs were not castrated and
many whelped so that now, too many dogs live on the island. People do not have
enough food for them, and the food in the shops is much too expensive.<o:p></o:p>

When
our group was in Halki in September / October, we arranged with a vet in Rhodes
that he offers a special price for the neutering of dogs being brought from
Halki. We had no possibility to spread this news to every single dog owner but
we hoped that each of them would pass the infomatin on to others. Castration is
the only possiblity of keeping the number of dogs at a certain level. It is
very important that you are conscious of the fact that badly kept and starving
dogs very often are the reason why tourists do not visit the island again and
that our program for the neutering of cats has kept many English tourists to
the island. They tell us: “This is the only island where we can relax because
we see the animals healthy and well-fed.”<o:p></o:p>

Lately
we heard that the dirt that the dogs make on the piazza becomes a problem for
the Dimo. We are ready to help solving this problem. I am sending you a foto of
a box containing plastic bags. You find these boxes everywhere in the cities in
Germany: Dog owners are obliged to take away their dogs’ dirt. They may use
these plastic bags for the excrements and put them into the next dust bin. We are
willing to sponsor such boxes for Halki and give them to the Dimo – in case you
think this could be of some help. Some of our members will be in Halki end of
April / beginning of May and will try to contact you and to discuss this with
you and Livanios.<o:p></o:p>

Concerning
the poisoning of the cats, we think of offering a reward of several hundred Euros
for hints leading to the poisoner. This would not be necessary if the Dimo took
active steps towards informing people about laws which request a new way of
thinking and behaviour. We know that you personally think positively of animal
protection. But something has to be done officially.<o:p></o:p>

Animal Help Halki has solved
the problem of the cats by investing much money and work to the best of the
island. But the new problem of many very badly kept dogs can only be solved by
the Dimo because in this case, we have to deal with private owners. For
example, somebody just told us that near the Pondamos there is a dog starving! It
had been fed by a tourist for two weeks – which is no solution for this poor
dog. The owner has probably just left it since days or weeks. This is a case
which has to be handled by the Dimo.<o:p></o:p>

Dear
Michalis, I am very sorry that I have to write to you about the fact that the
situation has become much worse instead of getting better. We wish you much
luck for the New Year and hope that together we can solve some of these
problems.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

Sincerely
yours,<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

Hilke
Stamatiadis<o:p></o:p>

Maria
Laudes-Mäurer<o:p></o:p>

Ortrud
Wagner<o:p></o:p>

[Liz]

It saddens me to read that Maria .. I hope some good comes of it

[Liz]

You are also right re the dog mess ... A few yrs ago we went on a cruise , it stopped in Corsica .. There was dog mess everywhere ! ...I couldn't wait to get back to the boat .. That is my lasting impression of Corsica ! And I've never felt the urge to back ( we have gone back to a few of the other places we stopped at )
A lot of first time visits are done by boat trips .. If I stepped off the boat and stood in dog sh*t or one of my children did , I wouldn't be in a rush to go back

[Helmut]

Mar 7, 2013 18:58:44 GMT Liz said:

It saddens me to read that Maria .. I hope some good comes of it

Dear Liz,

To avoid any misanderstanding. I am not Maria and not the author of the letter. I just published the letter.

Helmut   

[Liz]

Thank you for clarifying .. If you are not the author then are you a recipient ?
If not then can I ask how you are privy to the e-mail ?

[Helmut]

Mar 7, 2013 20:18:07 GMT Liz said:

Thank you for clarifying .. If you are not the author then are you a recipient ?
If not then can I ask how you are privy to the e-mail ?

Yes! I am recipient.

Helmut

[Liz]

Ok thanks for that...so what are your thoughts ?

[carol]

Thank you for posting this letter, I am afraid that I could see last September that this situation with all the dogs was going to become serious. Unfortunately as in other countries some dogs have become " fashion accessories " which of course they are not and the dog mess situation was already happening paricularly around the Piazza. The ill treatment and starvation of these poor animals must be addressed as must the continual poisoning of the cats, I fear that in this financial climate some of the regular tourists will start to go elsewhere for their holidays if this is not dealt with, nobody will want to be eating and drinking with excrement and unruly dogs around them.

[jamesthebutler]

Carol, you just beat me to it as I was also going to post something on similar lines to your comments about fashion accessories and the mess on the Piazza and hope that someone somewhere will address the concerns of Halki Animal Welfare and all of us who love Halki.

JtB

[greek girl]

I agree with you Carol - I saw it coming too. I work for an animal charity in Greece and I had received this letter from Germany re the cats/dogs on Halki. Very sad.

[Helmut]

Dear Halki Visitors,





I have forgotten to post the link to the homepage of the animal care halki. Here you are: engl-tierhilfe-chalki.tierhilfe-chalki.de/index.htm





Helmut

[Kinygos]

Lest anyone is in doubt regarding my position on this I offer my posting last year:
Sad on so many levels
What I am now going to write may upset some people.
This island does not take kindly to foreigners telling them how to behave. Even the normal rules of law do not always apply; I do not intend to elaborate on this. Please be careful what you say and write. These people do not have a shred of anthropomophic feeling towards their animals, and they will not understand yours. They may well react very badly towards criticism, or even what you may think of as helpful suggestions. They do things the Greek way, and German (or British) advice may not be appreciated.
An attempt to prosecute an islander for poisoning cats, or anything else, will elicit a backlash from the islanders.
I fully sympathise with your motives but please be very careful.

[Liz]

I know what your saying Simon and in a lot of ways I agree with you but surely in this economic climate people would want to know if certain things were off putting to visitors. If I had a shop and people stopped coming I'd want to know why ...there's also the health issue here ..lots of children, locals and visitors play on the harbour front , there is a risk of toxocariasis.

[Kinygos]

Mar 8, 2013 18:48:01 GMT Liz said:

I know what your saying Simon and in a lot of ways I agree with you but surely in this economic climate people would want to know if certain things were off putting to visitors. If I had a shop and people stopped coming I'd want to know why ...there's also the health issue here ..lots of children, locals and visitors play on the harbour front , there is a risk of toxocariasis.

You have in mind the German/British answer to that problem.
Now be honest with yourself.
What do you think the Halki solution might be?

[Liz]

OK ...you asked LOL ... I can fully understand the different values people have and to a point I do respect them ( we are off to Vietnam soon and I am quite sure there will be things I will see that will not 'sit' right but that is their culture and the same goes in Europe including England for that matter)
Poisoning animals is just plain cruel ....does anyone know the reasoning behind it ? ....there must be a reason ? or a perceived cause for concern

Dog poo is a concern everywhere in the world ! and as a dog owner I think sometimes its only when your young child falls headlong into it and tramples it up your stair carpet that you start to think about it.

To be honest I'm a little uncomfortable with this thread myself ...we are sometimes accused on this site of making Halki seem like 'paradise lost 'and to newcomers this makes it sound like its knee deep in poo ..which its not ! Cruelty/Neglect is not the norm on the Island there are lots of well loved and looked after cats and dogs etc .....but I do think if people have concerns then they can be discussed ...if the powers that be are of the opinion that visitors should keep their beaks out... then so be it ...its their Island ...their choice ..


I am hoping Helmut that you have asked if its ok to publish this e-mail as its opened a huge can of worms which I'm not entirely happy with

So basically I dont have an answer but if this was my shop and certain things were off putting I would look at a way of putting them right