The Ugly side of Crete

The photos that accompany the narrative of the blog are too distressing to feature - so here is a picture of Gingypup instead!

Our municipality is of the few in Greece trying to address the problem of stray animals, without much finance. There is a councillor dedicated to the work and a programme of neutering, chipping and vaccinating is in place along with education in the schools to help the children understand how to look after animals.
Unfortunately, yesterday there was a serious ( though not uncommon) incident. Here is the narrative from Michele who helps the animal welfare in the municipality.

"So, many of you know that I am employed by the Municipality of Apokoronous to care and feed the stray animals in the Apokoronous area. On Saturday I was told by a member of the Municipality of Apokoronous that the puppies we have in Vrisses, in an almost secure and safe area, have to be gone on Monday! I hear this all the time and said my usual, you will have to speak to my boss! Sunday, all was okay there, I fed the little darlings, cleaned up after them, had a little cuddle with one or two.
Today I arrived to there being only two puppies. This in itself was upsetting for me. By the time my boss arrived I had found the first dead puppy. She found the second one and then we found the little kitten that I look after here that lives with the puppies, eats with them and sleeps in the kennels with them, dead!
They had been poisoned. Five are missing, we looked for them but there was no sign so I suppose we will never know what happened to them. From nine adorable puppies that had already been dismissed by someone in their short little lives, we now only have two!
Tomorrow I will go to the police and make a statement of what was said and what I found.
I'm sorry if the photograph is upsetting, but these animals were supposed to be safe! In a council run compound!
I am, as some of you know, leaving this job at the beginning of March, which is why I can write all this and not worry about my job. I don't care if anyone on the council doesn't like it. It is far too much of a coincidence that this happened. These poor things were massacred, the pain they must have gone through. The little one was found caught in the gates, trying to escape no doubt.
You can all make your own conclusions obviously, and I know you will all be horrified. Please feel free to share this, to vent your rage and DEMAND that something is done!
Thank you all for your time in reading this message, Michele"

Any of you who wish to comment on this, please send an email to info@apokoronasourhome.com and I will publish it to the website, and they can be taken to the town hall. Please add your name and keep it fit for publication.

I have also added a page to the website for animal welfare and this is where you will find information on what is happening, animals looking for homes and volunteers needed.