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Marvel at this mystery land of incomparable, ancient splendor. Listen to the mysterious melody and envision a civilization detached from contemporary life.  Enter the dark recesses of an ancient civilization via film and witness a modern day "Mummy's Curse".

Enter the Gateway to Egypt – Land of the Pharaohs

Click here: http://www.wagny.net/Egypt

ATHENS 2004

"Not the Greatest Celebration on Earth"

(By Marijo Anne Gillis)

I peered out the window of the giant airbus as the powerful Olympic Airlines jet screeched to an abrupt halt. It was 10:30 am and there wasnt a cloud in the sky. Elefterios Venezelou Airport was eerily quiet. In early summer Athens is usually a frenetic hub of activity. Tourists from all over the world flock to the Cradle of Western Civilization for fun in the sun and trips to the majestic monuments of a once exemplary civilization.

My history and love affair with Greece spans 30 years to the military junta and dates back to my early college days. I lived in Greece for 14 years while married and ran a lucrative yacht chartering business. I like to believe that over the years I became somewhat of an expert on Greek cultural and social mores.

Modern day Greece pales in comparison to the mighty imprint she relinquished so many millennia ago. She is but a faint shadow and a dim memory of her ancient and glorious past. She has devolved into a disabled offspring of colossal greatness.

I disembarked, cleared customs, said a prayer to the Lord for strength and began a sad journey into the desperate, despairing world of the animals of Greece. Unwanted, abandoned and brutalized, the fate of these creatures, both companion and farmed are tenuous at best..especially in light of the 2004Olympic Games.

I have made three investigative trips to Greece in the last nine months and

have filmed and photographed the innocent victims of abuse, neglect and disease in horrifying municipal shelters, parks, back alleys, farms and even private homes.  Fear, loneliness, starvation, brutality, pain and death are not just vocabulary for the companion and farmed animals in Greece, but living expressions of reality.

Low cost spay/neuter programs do not exist. Greeks believe that animals deserve a sex life. Sadly some Greek veterinarians are more concerned with profits from all too often botched spay/neuters which they perform reluctantly than with the hideous conditions of the animals they were trained to help.  "Voluntary" vets from around the world have been denied

access to practice in Greece lest they curb the inflow of bucks to the home grown variety.  To hell with the nightmare of animal suffering in Greece.

Greeks proudly state that they do not practice euthanasia yet ironically mass poisoning is their barbaric form of animal population control.  Death sneaks upon the animals furtively and is slow and brutally agonizing. Wanton propagation in wretched municipal shelters where animals are trapped in perpetual misery diseased and starving results in new born puppies being cannibalized by animals struggling for survival. These grisly scenes have been captured on video.

Mans dominion over animals - an appointment by God,has apparently been stripped of mercy, compassion and humanity.

Over the past year my meetings and negotiations with Greek ministers, mayors and officials of the 2004 Athens Olympic Committee have producedpromises to raise the standard of animal welfare and embrace social responsibility especially in light of the Games. Unfortunately for the animal victims their promises are empty and rhetoric is meaningless.

Graphic reports of animal abuse in the daily papers and on TV do little to mobilize a humane response by citizens. Government generated press releases deny allegations of slaughter and criminal abuse and are little more than slick smokescreens meant to mislead probing journalists and the conscientious world.

My investigations over the past two years, clearly point to a well planned, systematic house cleaning campaign. Allegedly orchestrated by Greek officials in cooperation with the 2004 Athens Olympic Committee, "gentrification" of the streets in time for the onslaught of tourists to the summer games has resulted in a massacre. Reports from Greece indicate that the animals are not the only ones who are disappearing and taking the

proverbial bullet for greed and inhumanity. Several Greek TV viewers state that a late night news report indicates that allegedly homeless gypsies and other undesirables will be spirited off to mysterious venues for the duration of the games.  Perhaps to an island spa?   I shiver as I déjà vu Gestapo tactics.

While in Athens I brought provocative expose material including facts, photographs and film to the attention of a very powerful television journalist Makis Triantafylopoulos.  His programs "Yellow Press" and "Jungle" air twice

weekly on Alter TV,a major network.  Both broadcasts vie for the number one

spot in the ratings. He is feared for his relentless inquisitions and

cunning reportage on corruption and abuse and he wreaks havoc on the human

pollution of Greek society. He travels with a body guard and threats upon

his life are taken seriously. I like him very much.  He is a gentle and

compassionate man and is hell bent on securing justice for the proverbial

underdog.  Many years ago Mr.Triantafylopoulos' award winning expose on Greece's hideous and macabre mental hospitals reached the television audiences of one of America's most credible and popular documentary programs and shocked the nation.

I am grateful for this journalists trust in WAG's campaign for the animals of Greece. He gave to me, Athens attorney Amalia Katsoula and South African activist Angela Fleming the opportunity to participate in a live one hour program called Yellow Press. A well known panel of guests including government officials and people from the entertainment and publishing world were invited to express their views. I hope that we ignited an un-extinguishable "torch".

On the air, Mr. Triantafylopoulos promised to me and his millions of viewers to thoroughly investigate allegations of mass exterminations and the disappearance of countless animals. Hopefully he will keep his promise.

After my rabble rousing visit to Greece in June of 2003 at the invitation of the Greek government, Athens Olympic Committee director,billionaire Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki  held a major press conference and promised financial aid for the welfare of abandoned animals affected by the infrastructure for the games.  I am curious to learn the whereabouts of the millions of euros that she promised for the animals. Has someone opened  a Swiss bank account?  Who has the money in their deep pockets?

Indulgences for the Olympic Games, expenditures will indeed have dramatic consequences for Greek citizens, idle in the billions of dollars and are dramatically over budget. Thankfully the international animal welfare community has called for an active united BOYCOTT of Greece and this action will undoubtedly impact an already compromised economy. Oblivious to all but the glory of the Games the 2004 Athens Olympic Committee turns a blind eye to financial disaster as well as to the grim animal issue which

screams for a humane solution.

Forever lobbying and pressuring officials, I arranged a formal meeting with Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Alexandros Kontos,the minister's counsel, animal advocates and  three  brilliant Athens attorneys Amalia Katsoula, Elias Pavlakis and Vasilis Alavanos who are working together pro bono to effect justice for animals and defamed animal advocates. Prior to this meeting the Ministry refused communication with the animal welfare community. I am happy to report that this dialogue between people and state continues.  Another meeting ( attorneys in tow) with the Vice Mayor of Athens, Tonia Kannelopoulou who is charged with animal welfare in the Olympic host city was  extremely cordial. Once again the vice mayor made promises for reform that I hope she will keep. However, their rejection of assistance from foreign animal welfare organizations is not wise. The Athens municipality's primitive yet well intentioned actions have yet to prove the verity of political oratory.

WAG and the heaven sent Angela Fleming, general secretary of Athens

Frontida Zoon (Caring for the Animals) physically rescued several very ill,

abused young dogs from the garbage dump at Loutraki,  a wealthy seaside

resort some 80 kilometers from Athens. Loutrakis claim to fame is a popular

gambling casino.  Infamous is the town dump which doubles as Loutrakis

municipal animal shelter.  It is despicable as are the indifferent officials

of the town, (partners in the casino). Words cannot describe the condition

of the animals. At this momentI find that I cannot find the strength to

describe the misery, pain and desolation that I witnessed.  A happy ending

for these rescued creatures, is that WAG has provided veterinary treatment

for the rescued dogs, (two were 3 week old puppies discarded as rubbish )

and foster care with loving families.  They are presently being medicated,

loved, spoiled, fattened up and are awaiting a mercy airlift and re-homing

in Belgium.  But, what about the tens of thousand left behind?

During my 17 day stay in Greece, I had daily meetings with animal rights

activists and phone conferences with these wonderful people nation wide;

the only members of Greek society who seem to care about her tormented

animals. Sadly these human bastions of animal rights continue to be

ridiculed, slandered,  intimidated and marginalized by citizens and

government officials alike, and some of their actions appear to be governed

by fear. The pathetic Greek e-zine, Tetrapodologein has made a vicious

mockery of their compassion.

Happily on June 6, 2004 the Greek Parliament played involuntary host to a boisterous and passionate street demonstration. Gathering courage,over 1000 angry animal activists took to the streets with banners and loudspeakers and protested the mass poisoning of thousands of

dogs and cats and the government and the 2004 Athens Olympic Committees alleged reckless complicity in the disappearance of the countrys strays.

Even better news is the fact that the European media is covering Greeces

little shop of horrors with vitality and serious intent. As well WAG has

just completed production on a 5 minute narrated documentary film called The Glory of Greece. The film details brutal animal abuse and WAG will distribute the visual images to major media outlets throughout North America and Western Europe. A major American

network has expressed interest in the expose. Adverse publicity will certainly impact the influx of Greeces tourist dollars.  Money is something that the Greek nations governing force comprehends. Perhaps the slowed ching-ching of that damn Greek cash register god may catalyze positive action.

As the Olympic games draw near much is being questioned about vital

security in defense of global terrorism and construction delays of the

city's infrastructure are foremost concerns. The Greek government blithely

reassures the media and turns it's arrogant attention to putting their city

in the best possible light.

As the world lobbies for assurances that the 2004 Athens Olympic Games will

be a safe and successful pageant, the needless and barbaric slaughter of her

animals continues.  The world is perplexed and somewhat stunned by this

countrys resistance to compassion.

As Greece assumes center stage, let us remember and never forget that

athletes from around the world will exercise their prowess upon the blood

stains of the thousands of voiceless, vulnerable victims of greed and

inhumanity. This will surely outrage the millions of people who cherish

their animals and the creatures with whom we share this planet.

Alluring TV commercials and crafty print advertising, artfully displayed,

proclaim that the 2004 Athens Olympics will "unite the world".  A full page

ad in a New York City newspaper, presented by the Hellenic Ministry of

Culture, states:

At the dawn of the third millennium, more than 2,700 years after the first

Olympic Games, history will repeat itself as the Olympics return to the

country of their birth.  The Greek nation and the whole world will embrace

the unique revival of the games, turning them into "the greatest celebration

on earth".

Knowing what we know, this image strains credulity.

And so dear readers Greece continues to rape her own image with social

irresponsibility and moral bankruptcy.  The 2004 Athens Olympic Games will

hoist a bright torchlight over the failures of Greek society and civic

institutions to live up to their obligations to meet the most basic, simple

needs of animals.

Welcome to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games as GREEK ANIMALS RACE for their

LIVES!

THIS IS NOT GREECE!!

The following photographs are representative of the dark secret what is kept well hidden from the travel brochures and from the Greek Ministry of Tourisms flashy, alluring multi million dollar, global  advertising campaign.

THIS IS GREECE!  This is the reality! Ignored in the streets and left to suffer and die alone by apathetic, heartless and indifferent citizens.

What a pity that Greek society has devolved into such a dismal, uncompassionate and harsh excuse for humanity.

News Article

OLYMPIC SHAME
New York Post - New York,NY,USA
http://www.nypost.com/living/28280.htm

By JULIA SZABO

Animal Lovers from all  over Europe protested on the occasion of the Eurovision 

  Strays result in international ridicule   <>
  By Argyro Morou  

Those who arrived at the Olympic Stadium early last evening to watch the Eurovision song contest were treated to a preview of the points and the monsters before they saw the real monsters and the other competitors.  

Animal welfare activists from various European countries (Denmark, Holland, England, Greece, and others) gathered with the aim of informing visitors what happens to strays in Greece, and to ask for their help.  

The shocking photographs of the animals who featured in their placards took those who wanted to sell Greek flags and other objects by surprise but showed nothing more than what is seen daily on the streets.  Pamphlets translated into various languages, were also distributed, speaking for the "animals who have no voice of their own", as was written characteristically on one poster. 

The law 

They spoke of the controversial law (3170/2003) which relates to companion animals, of poisoning, abandoning and also the rumours that accuse them of sending animals abroad not for adoption but to be used as experimental animals! Despite objections from a very few, their silent protest gained the attention of the Eurovision public, mainly foreigners, who had travelled to Greece from other European countries.  

And for those who continue to  hide their heads in the sand, let them realise one thing. Only somebody who loves this country wants it to progress. And that somebody may include foreigners.  

The banners with their shocking photographs are a lot more painless to deal with  than that seen by an E reader in the National Gardens last Tuesday, at the first Eurovision party in Zappeio. "Ducks without water and food, eating one another amid other half eaten ducks. Donkeys with broken legs. Skeletal animals, sick,  hungry and without water. She describes appalling conditions and as for the reaction of those responsible the veterinarians  who carried out an examination by telephone. They issued explicit orders for the animals to  "eat 50 gram of food (per animal) always with additional salt ", so that they will drink water and not be hungry", she told us. 

Eleftherotypia - 22/05/2006 

• Act. Dont react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.
• None of us is as smart as all of us. Synergy means 2 plus 2 equals 5.
• There is nothing we cant achieve if we dont care who gets the credit for it.
• Humankinds greatest sin is anthropocentrism where human life is valued above all other sentient life.
• In their capacity to feel pain and fear, a pig is a dog is a bear is a boy.
• One man can make a difference and every man should try. (This includes women)
• Just because you can do little does not mean you can do nothing.
• Start now. There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of a single candle.
• The most disgusting four letter word in the English language is cage.
• We dont own a pet. We are guardians of companion animals.
• A caged bird is proof of the moral bankruptcy of its jailer. A robin redbreast in a cage puts all heaven in a rage.
• For the animal kingdom, the Holocaust never ended.
• Cruelty to an animal is something we learn. Put a child in a room with a toy and a bunny. If she plays with the toy and is cruel to the bunny, I will buy you a new car.
• When animals do something noble we say they are behaving like humans. When humans do something disgusting we say they are behaving like animals.  Clumsy use of the English language perpetuates the myth that animals are inferior and disposable beings. This makes the task of humanitarians even more difficult.
• Our culture, religion and tradition starts with oral history. Our belief in the superiority of humans is rooted in the darkness and superstition, passed on by word of mouth for centuries. It has become holy, writ large by human hands. If we taped an oral history of animal kingdom, the anguished screams would drown out the sound and fury of the Big Bang.
• I can understand why some theologians believe animals have no souls. To the tortured animal, the only evidence of the existence of God is the absence of the torturer. In their cages, I would have little difficulty concluding that my jailer was living proof that God is deaf, blind, indifferent or dead. Standing in front of a torture chamber I realised the beast was outside the bars and I was two yards away from becoming an atheist.
• The Circus is to Entertainment, what Vivisection is to Science, what Pornography is to Art.
  
  Philip Wollen (1950 - )  Australia

UNITE and FIGHT

Marijo Gillis      
Welfare for Animals Global
New York City
Twinkieperkyebby@msn.com

Remember Greeces gross national product { $$$ } depends upon SUMMER TOURISM alone.  Avoid this brutal country as a vacation venue and spread the word.  Letters and petitions to Greek government officials have been and most assuredly continue to be meaningless and literally laughed at.  I will be traveling to Greece again for a special campaign in the early fall.  Continue to BOYCOTT TOURISM to the country and everything Greek.  Please spread the word and urge everyone you know to avoid this vacation Paradise and this veritable HELL for animals.  Hit the government in their collective back pocket.

Thanks so very much for your compassion and cooperation.

Marijo

WAG NY

Honorable Officials of Greece:

We remain committed to a tourism boycott of Greece. I am shocked the Ministry
of Tourism has lavished $100 million on the "Live Your Myth In Greece"
campaign when the ultimate myth endures: It's a fable about officials who
work to end the abuse of homeless animals in Greece.

It is a fiction-based story, built upon words without merit.

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the world learned an estimated 80%
of Athens' strays had vanished as authorities swept the streets for a sleek
world reception. Images of emaciated animals, hangings, shootings and
poisonings emerged in The BBC, Greek TV News, New York Post, Chicago
Tribune, and other media outlets.

We saw cannibalized puppies and carcasses lining gutters. We heard about
laced with herbicides, pesticides and ground glass. We saw ravenous
strays foam at the mouth, convulse and die. We read about a live dog crushed
with the garbage and a burned kitten pulled from the trash.

The outcry from the global animal welfare community led to minor
modifications. Two showcase shelters were unveiled to greet international
press, even as animals continued to rot alive in makeshift pounds throughout
Greece.

And where are the survivors--the street dogs supposedly rescued by the
municipal government in a zero-hour effort to appear humane? Greek sources
report these dogs have disappeared.

In fact, little has changed. Eyewitness accounts and photographic evidence
attest to ongoing cruelty. At municipal animal shelters, animals still
languish in their own waste. Food is scarce and water bowls are infested
with dead insects and muck. Males and females are permitted to breed
unrestrained and starving dogs feed on newborn puppies.

Once again, we implore the Greek government to enforce animal welfare
legislation. Certainly some of the millions spent on tourism ads could be
directed toward humane reform. If Greece hopes to market itself as a
sophisticated travel destination, it must align itself with European law
designed to protect companion, farmed, and captive animals.

Specifically, we call upon the Greek government to:

--Repeal Animal Welfare Law #3170 and uphold European Union Law, which
Greece ratified in 1992. Officials have consistently ignored or misconstrued
the vague language in Law #3170. Animal abusers are neither prosecuted nor
penalized for their crimes.

--Issue a declaration from the Office of the Prime Minister denouncing
animal abuse and neglect.

--Enact a Ministerial Decree that authorizes non-government animal
protection societies and individuals to legally transport abandoned animals
to loving homes in Europe and America. Please lift the Ministry of
Agriculture's current embargo on the free passage of Greek strays to
permanent homes abroad.

--Thoroughly investigate and terminate, if necessary, veterinarians within
the Ministry of Agriculture who obstruct the re homing of animals abroad. In
addition, I urge the Greek government to monitor and penalize, when
appropriate, state veterinarians on the Greek mainland and islands who
undermine humane reform or violate anti-cruelty law.

--Subsidize and institute nationwide low-cost spay/neuter,
vaccination/treatment, microchip identification, adoption/re homing, and
humane education within the school system.

The Hellenic Veterinary Association rejects spay/neuter aid from
veterinarians in other countries. This is unacceptable. Greece has
demonstrated its inability to manage the animal overpopulation crisis. I ask
the Greek government to facilitate licensing for foreign veterinarians who
have volunteered to assist in sterilization, vaccination and treatment for
animals in Greece.

We will continue to encourage family, friends and colleagues to boycott
Greece as a vacation spot until visible strides are made to enforce animal
welfare law and institute humane reform.

Thousands of New Yorkers and Manhattan traffic were not prepared for the hundreds of supporters led by Marijo Anne Gillis, founder of WAG NY, (Welfare for Animals Global) as they protested in front of the Greek Consulate on posh Park Avenue in Manhattan.  The brutal mass poisoning of 15,000 abandoned street dogs in Athens, Greece was the Greek governments barbaric method of house cleaning in time for the onslaught of tourists to the 2004 Athens Olympics.

6.7.2004. Whilst Greek animals race for their lives, Animal Friends Croatia appeals all citizens of Croatia for the

BOYCOTT OF OLYMPICS IN ATHENS!

Photo gallery - Tragedy of Greek dogs and cats

http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/html/fgrcka.html

Western Daily Press, April 20, 2004, Roger Tavener: 'Scandal of Athens! Yet another dog lies poisoned in what the world now sees as Greeks' Olympic tragedy.'

Animal Friends Croatia joins other animal welfare organizations from all over the world in their boycott of Olympic games in Athens.

One of the organizers who launched a boycott was Marijo Anne Gillis, founder of WAG-New York, Inc. (Welfare for Animals in Greece - a Lobby Group), shocking the world with the information about 3,000 killed and poisoned dogs and cats which the city of Athens removed from its streets in the most cruel way, as an operation of the 'cleanup' in the run-up to the Summer Olympics.

Poisoning of stray - and owned - dogs and cats is a way of life in Greece and it occurs on a daily basis. Those responsible for spreading poisoned bait, (and allegedly local governments and municipalities give the orders), are rarely caught in the act and usually the bodies of these innocent victims are picked up by garbage collectors in the early hours of the morning and dumped as trash, some still alive and writhing in pain.

Western Daily Press, April, 20 2004, Roger Tavener: 'Dead dogs lie everywhere in Athens and surrounding suburbs. Witnesses even claim to have seen live dogs rounded up and thrown into trucks in some Greek towns, never to be seen again.'

The poisoning is seen as a necessary and cheap clean up operation of the large numbers of stray dogs and cats which are looked upon as vermin or street rats. The poison used can be anything from strychnine and rat poison to farm pesticides and herbicides; even crushed glass placed in raw meat. Other animals were hanged by the neck, shot or run over by cars and left on the road to die.

While the Activists have launched a mass evacuation campaign, transporting the strays by plane, train, truck and bus to new homes around Europe, animal advocates from Australia to America stepped up calls to boycott the games.

Animal Friends Croatia couldn't remain passive in front of this cruelty; joins in partnership with WAG NY and urges all citizens of Republic of Croatia to join the world boycott of Olympic games in Greece, Greek tourism and industry.

Marijo Gillis      
Welfare for Animals Global
New York City
Twinkieperkyebby@msn.com
"a not for profit political lobby and advocacy force reaching the world"
tel:    (212) 427-0587

mobile: (646) 284-1945 
tel:    (813) 907-3847
Fax:    (212) 427-6381

Tens of thousands of animals per year die of brutal poisoning, hanging, burning and shootings .  This mother cat will be cared for and then released.

Dear Tourists to GreeceWelcome to the Island of Crete and Enjoy the Scenery, the Hidden Secrets of the Cradle of Civilization

---

Von: Marijo Gillis [mailto:TwinkiePerkyEbby@msn.com]
Gesendet: Dienstag, 24. Mai 2005 01:04
An: Stefan Grothus
Betreff: Animal Abuse photos Crete Permission from Stefan

Picture 1:

Sabienne, as our vet called her, was found by German tourists on

the Greek island of Crete and brought to Noah's Ark shelter in Chania,

more dead than alive, with a terrible wound on her neck, all muscles

there destroyed and not able to use her left front leg.

 

 

 

Picture 2:

Our vet Ines immediately put her under anaesthesia, not knowing

in the beginning if she could save her or should put her to sleep.

Picture 3:

The examination revealed that somebody had tried to burn this

little dog alive.  This picture, taken after the shaving, shows how

deep the wound was.

 

Picture 4:

After cleaning of the wound and during reconstruction of the torn

muscles Ines found and removed 36 pellets (small shots) from there.

Pictures 5 & 6:

The wound was closed and some drainages were inserted

to prevent infection.

 

Pictures 7 & 8:

 

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