Friends of Cats - Co-existence in harmony

If the Singapore newspaper reports are anything to go by, let's just say that most Singaporeans are not animal lovers and there are even people who abuse the stray cats and dogs.

It was a refreshing change to see the Greeks, stray cats and dogs living together in harmony. There are many stray dogs and cats living on the streets of Athens and other Greek cities, towns, villages and islands. They are at the corner of almost every street and every turning, waiting for a friendly human to give them a pat or perhaps some food. Most strays I have seen are not dirty and generally well fed. No scrawny strays you sometimes see in Singapore. They do not stray into homes or even restaurants where the smell of food lingers in the air.

A lot of Greeks place food out for these strays and some waiters/restaurants will even feed them with left over food. Though these animals are not owned by any Greeks, I see them being accepted as part of the landscape by Greeks. The non animal lover will simply ignore them but not abuse them. The animal lover and tourist will try to feed them a scrap of food here and there.

I see all the strays there happy and heathly. That was the best part of our holiday, meeting the various dogs and cats on the streets.

And so, now is the time some Greek dogs and cats will greet you.

The dogs first! Of various shapes and sizes. Most are big size mongrels but some are even bigger. But the thing is, all the stray dogs are very friendly.

This big Alsatian joined us in watching the magnificent sunset. Very friendly which just wanted a pat.

They just lay around anywhere on the street, sometimes even in the middle of the pavement. And people will just walk around them without any fuss.