Post by artisans on Feb 6, 2011 19:04:35 GMT 2
I have just come out of the garden, not digging for victory, but doing something altogether more serious. Having had the advantage of seeing the other side of a popular coin, Julie & I had wanted, for many years, to write an article about an issue dear to our hearts. Only the prospect of upsetting good people prevented us.
It all started nine years ago when we saw a kind & caring lady feeding kittens under the olive tree across the bridge by the Afrodite Hotel. It was the very last day of the tourist season and it made us wonder how the kittens would survive when the lady left Roda. By being kind, she was making them reliant on human beings and then she was off into the wild blue yonder feeling that she had done something useful – but had she?
These were the thoughts we had that day and, over the years, we came to the conclusion that there are a great many myths about the cats & dogs of Roda that are simply not true, and that NOT feeding them when on holiday may actually be kinder in the long term.
Several years ago, Yiannis found a stray dog on a building site in Barbati and she was brought to Roda & cared for. When Yiannis & Sofia moved back to Athens, Julie & I willingly agreed to look after her. I am told by many people that stray dogs can never shake the habit of begging for food and she would rather jump in the sea for dry bread than eat the carefully prepared meal that we gave her. Leaving her dinner behind, she would appear at the local hotels and, to be kind, everyone would give her scraps. Her real dinner would be thrown away while she collected her trophies.
Being of a kind & gentle nature, she would willingly allow the other local dogs, and particularly cats, to muscle in on her dinner and she would stand calmly and watch them eat the lot. Before dinner, I would shut her on the veranda, drive off the cats and try to help her to get a square meal. Her instincts & conditioning told her to look elsewhere, but we had to know that she was eating enough.
Circumstances caused everyone where I live to be away over Christmas and arrangements were made for food to be provided every day. Unfortunately, nobody monitored how much was being eaten by other animals, and there were no well-meaning tourists here to fill the gap. There are many reasons for my despair but, amongst them are the gentle nature of a lovely dog and the misguided kindness of some of our visitors. Last night, I lost an affectionate, loving & gentle companion - Petra – a dear & faithful friend who responded & adapted to the kindness of our visitors, and then paid with her life.
Petra by the bridge in Roda - November 25th 2010
It all started nine years ago when we saw a kind & caring lady feeding kittens under the olive tree across the bridge by the Afrodite Hotel. It was the very last day of the tourist season and it made us wonder how the kittens would survive when the lady left Roda. By being kind, she was making them reliant on human beings and then she was off into the wild blue yonder feeling that she had done something useful – but had she?
These were the thoughts we had that day and, over the years, we came to the conclusion that there are a great many myths about the cats & dogs of Roda that are simply not true, and that NOT feeding them when on holiday may actually be kinder in the long term.
Several years ago, Yiannis found a stray dog on a building site in Barbati and she was brought to Roda & cared for. When Yiannis & Sofia moved back to Athens, Julie & I willingly agreed to look after her. I am told by many people that stray dogs can never shake the habit of begging for food and she would rather jump in the sea for dry bread than eat the carefully prepared meal that we gave her. Leaving her dinner behind, she would appear at the local hotels and, to be kind, everyone would give her scraps. Her real dinner would be thrown away while she collected her trophies.
Being of a kind & gentle nature, she would willingly allow the other local dogs, and particularly cats, to muscle in on her dinner and she would stand calmly and watch them eat the lot. Before dinner, I would shut her on the veranda, drive off the cats and try to help her to get a square meal. Her instincts & conditioning told her to look elsewhere, but we had to know that she was eating enough.
Circumstances caused everyone where I live to be away over Christmas and arrangements were made for food to be provided every day. Unfortunately, nobody monitored how much was being eaten by other animals, and there were no well-meaning tourists here to fill the gap. There are many reasons for my despair but, amongst them are the gentle nature of a lovely dog and the misguided kindness of some of our visitors. Last night, I lost an affectionate, loving & gentle companion - Petra – a dear & faithful friend who responded & adapted to the kindness of our visitors, and then paid with her life.
Petra by the bridge in Roda - November 25th 2010