Archive note: This text comes from the old archive of Nomika Epilekta and is preserved with care for historical and informational reading.

I do not know whether we are a people of animal lovers. Yet, from the many active animal-welfare associations, as well as from the unions and initiatives in favor of animals, I realized that there are many friends of animals, with which we ought to share this planet fairly. In our country there are also many active and thoroughly trained veterinarians, with knowledge, scientific ability and significant studies in Greece and abroad. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that the percentage of animal lovers or friends of animals among us is not large, not even significant, since I constantly observe the corpses of dogs, cats and other animals, such as martens and foxes in the provinces, rotting at the edges of roads, and I learn of savage mistreatment and killings of “innocent” animals, mainly by the horrific method of treacherous poisoning with bait. From accounts, and less from my own experience, I became certain that the behavior of our compatriots, more in the villages and less in the cities, was and continues to be harsh and “inhuman” toward animals. In older times, the residents of villages tortured and mistreated mainly horses and donkeys, while children had as “entertainment” the torture of cats and dogs to death, without excluding other harmless little animals, such as turtles and birds. After our accession to the European Union, our leaders thought to reform the relevant legislation for the effective protection of animals, mainly from humans. And, in contrast to the failures in other fields of social life, our fathers of the nation, after “consultation”, voted Law 4039/02.02.2012, entitled “on owned and stray companion animals and the protection of animals from exploitation or use for profit-making purposes”, replacing the previous inadequate legal framework for protection [by article 23 of Law 4039/2012 most provisions of the previous Law 3170/2003 were abolished, as well as every other general or special provision that regulates matters of the new law in a different way]. This is significant progress, at least at the level of legislation, and I express the wish that corresponding progress has been made in our behavior toward animals, domestic and otherwise, so that we may feel that we have escaped underdevelopment and are becoming civilized. Because truly the civilization of a people is not shown only by the way one person behaves toward another, that is, by the manners of good behavior that facilitate our communication with each other, nor by whether we keep the environment clean, as in the example of Kefalonia, whether we do not pollute the streets by throwing cigarette butts, tissues and rubbish from our cars, whether we do not spit and do not belch. Much more, the civilization of a society is shown by the way it behaves toward animals and by each citizen’s interest in them, which, on the basis of the recent law, acquired specific rights and effective protection. The first article of the new law specifies that an animal is every living organism that feels and moves on land, in the air and in the sea or in any other aquatic ecosystem or wetland. Those who have a pet or pets, mainly cats and dogs, have direct and excellent knowledge regarding the feelings of animals, and there are many examples of the emotional devotion of a dog or cat to humans that surpass every imagination. The same law defines the concept of welfare, which is the set of rules that humans must apply to animals with regard to their protection and good treatment, so that they do not feel pain and suffer, their stay in a dry, clean place protected from weather conditions, without being permanently tied and living inside unsuitable constructions, for example metallic ones, the care for medical treatment and the provision of suitable food and water, their daily exercise and walk, and generally the care for respect of their existence. One could say that this law was drafted by people with humanity, with feeling, sensitivities and cultivation of soul, and that it does not resemble the other thousands of laws produced by Parliament supposedly for our good and in substance so that our rights may be restricted and our freedoms annulled. In another point of the same article, the concepts of the companion animal, the stray and the dangerous animal are defined. It is stated which are the small companion animals, shelters for stray animals are provided for, and special mention is made of animal diseases, of what circus and animal troupe mean, so that, subsequently, by other provisions of the same law, the use of animals and their torture for entertainment may be prohibited. The competent authorities for the protection and control of the rules of animal protection are established. Criminal sanctions are also provided against those who mistreat, torture and harm animals. The penalties start from one and reach up to five years and are combined with fines from 5,000 to 15,000 euros. The entire law is governed by a modern spirit and provides effective protection and true rights to defenseless animals, as well as punishment for violators of animal rights. The new legislation constitutes a true oasis of civilization, optimism and joy in the desert of the extensive and acute economic, political, cultural and social crisis. And let us finally understand that the Earth does not belong only to human beings. It also belongs to the other creatures, those created by the divine Breath.