Athens' Dogs
By Michelle Geoga
26 July 2007
In the spring of 2006 my family traveled to Athens for a one week vacation. I packed a camera, many lenses and a bag full of extra gear hoping to find something somewhat original to say with my camera about Athens and the towns around it—an obviously ambitious goal. Instead, I found myself focusing on the very ordinary subject of dogs.
Arriving in a new time zone after a long flight, we ventured out for what Athenians would consider a very early dinner. That first evening, we knew we would be lucky merely to be conscious until the usual Athenian dinner hour. As we sat somewhat groggy at a touristy outdoor cafe on the Plaka, we noticed a number of dogs lounging in doorways and around the historic buildings. They were clearly unattended and appeared to be homeless, even though some wore collars. At the end of the meal, we asked our waiter if it would be acceptable to feed the stray dogs.
"Of course," he replied.
I reached for the bread remaining in the basket on our table.
"But not bread. Dogs don't eat bread. They eat meat," the waiter informed us.
Over the next week, we observed many more things about the dogs of Athens. They never begged at the countless sidewalk and Plaka cafes and restaurants. Rarely barked or acted aggressively. Sat outside shops, looking in, but never ventured inside. Waited at crosswalks for people to puddle on the corner and then followed the pedestrians safely across the busy streets. Returned to the same corners and doorways routinely, at the same time of day. They rarely sought attention from Athenians but sometimes socialized with each other. I photographed the dogs wherever we went, much to the amusement of the Athenians who also found themselves in the frame—in the periphery of course.
We asked around at the hotel and found someone who gave us some background, from a very subjective perspective, of course. He told us Athenians love dogs but mostly puppies and after puppies became dogs, many are released on the streets. He told us that when dogs are injured, they are treated and vaccinated by the city, and turned out again with a collar. Athenians not only tolerate the dogs on the street, they seem to regard them as fellow citizens, by stepping around them, feeding them meat, leaving out bowls of water and more.
The independent lifestyle of the dogs was striking. We saw some that needed grooming but none that appeared undernourished. We saw only one that was injured, apparently from a fight with another dog. It was very early in the spring and the nights were not very chilly. Winter, on the other hand, must be difficult for the dogs. The ones that survive are the most intelligent and the strongest. I left with hundreds of images and a sense that the dogs were not unhappy with their life on the streets of Athens.
A few months later, after much editing, I made a slideshow of my favorite images and burned it onto a DVD, which I took to my vet's office on my semiannual vaccination trip with our beagle. My vet had a very different reaction, leaving me questioning my own.
Thinking of the dogs at the local shelter, I wondered aloud which group was better off. My vet pointed out that a dog may spend a month or even a year in the shelter but ultimately it is healthy and safe and free from suffering. The dogs that live on the street, that is the ones that survive, are not healthy, not safe and have no possibility of a safe home is in their future. At that moment, I realized how crazy it was to think life on the street was preferable.
Still, I am still torn between the romantic notion that it is better to be free than sit in a cage and the reality that the dog in the cage has a shot at being adopted by a family and enjoying a comfortable life free of the dangers of a speeding car, starvation or disease. Remembering the placid demeanor of the dogs we met,
I confess that my photographs only tell one side of the story.
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