Eustratios Papanis, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of the Aegean, snapped a photo of stray dogs napping inside Hott Spott cafe on the idyllic island of Lesbos, and uploaded it to Facebook.
Since then, Papanis’ photo has been shared hundreds of thousands of times and has garnered comments like “THIS is what’s right with the world” and “Big LIKE!”
Street dogs in Greece are monitored and managed differently from other European countries. The dogs are often microchipped, vaccinated, neutered and spayed when possible and collared and cared for by the community at large. This is done rather than having the dogs corralled and put into crowded shelters.
One street dog named Sausage became a household name in Athens, Greece a few years ago after he marched alongside demonstrators during the country’s economic crisis.
“In most European countries, they solve this problem [of stray dogs] with euthanasia. But Greek culture is against that. Our law is about rehabilitating the dogs,” explained the head of Athens’ Stray Animal Service when asked about the city’s strays. “People here take care of them and love them. They are like everyone’s dog.”
It would seem that this cafe in Lesbos is doing just that!
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