Rumble in the Mongrel Jungle - Athens News - 01/01/10
January 4th, 2010Rumble in the Mongrel Jungle
By Despoina Pavlaki
How does a person with no known affinities in the animal kingdom suddenly decide to mangle their lifestyle over a mongrel?
Barring childrearing, the next worst thing you can do for your beauty sleep is dogs. They wake up early and they need to love you all day long. And if you want to love them back, you need to jump out of bed, put your running shoes on and take (them) to the hills. In my case, it was the hills that did the damage in the first place. Living near Philopappou does afford you certain luxuries, such as immersing yourself in soothing greenery first thing in the morning while practicing the world’s cheapest sport: running. At first it was just me and my shoes, but after a while I started noticing things. Dogs would suddenly run out of the foliage and tag along, other people’s dogs who seemed happier and a lot more in touch with nature, even though I was the one doing all the sweating.
I took that feeling home with me and gradually watched it grow into something akin to mild curiosity. I even found myself eyeing poodles –a literal pet peeve of mine – and their besotted owners with a little less distaste than I used to. Having grown up in a household where animals were only mentioned in recipes, I didn’t even know what kind of dog could survive my apartment: oven-big (Labradors, German Shepherds etc), average casserole size (Beagles, Cocker Spaniels and so on) or skillet-worthy (Pekingese, Chihuahuas or even Dachshunds)? Little did I know that animals were a lot more than just sports accessories.
Sniffing Around
So on I went, surfing the wave of misguided pet love, convinced I could handle just about anything you threw at me. Even a little blonde mongrel with acute motion sickness. But first I went sniffing around the purebred kingdom. I still wonder why, when the cheapest Cocker Spaniel went for no less than 400 Euros, except the one given away at my local video store, but I’m pretty sure there was a good reason behind that generous little gesture. Demonic dog possession springs to mind. Plus, Greece does boast 300.000 strays of its own.
‘As consumers, we buy what we know. Television and movies usually use breed dogs for their characters as they represent stereotypes of behavior. The same as we can tell the ‘bad guy’ from the ‘good guy’ just from how they look’, explains Helen 43, a former independent contractor from Canada now in charge of volunteers, online content, marketing, creative fundraising and cake & cookie baking for bazaars at the Friends of Animals Nea Filadelphia. “We see a Jack Russell and think ‘this is a fun energetic and clever dog’, we see a Labrador and think ‘this is man’s best friend - loyal and devoted until death’, a poodle ’silly little pampered pet’ or the ’savage’ pit bull. So when people think about getting a dog, they think they should get one that represents them because they see the dog as an extension of themselves.’
Monetary limitations and a good talking-to by some of my more sensible friends soon brought me to my senses and put me on the mongrel track. Selflessness aside (why buy when you can rescue?), street dogs were bound to be well-behaved cause nobody else wanted them, right? It all made perfect sense. Now all I had to do was move fast. Just like having a baby, if you think about it too much you’re never gonna do it. Hence my e-mail to the Friends of Animals Nea Filadelphia who not only got back to me in record time and drove me to their shelter and back, they even delivered the pup to my doorstep when a torrential rain almost became the perfect excuse to back out. But they weren’t having any of that. Three nice ladies showed up on my doorstep with my mutt of choice, a blonde car-sick little thing that would soon make my life a living hell. Thanks girls.
Hell on Wheels
Pancake, as I immediately named her, didn’t do any of the obvious stuff. She never ate my patent leather shoes, chewed on my furniture or bark. You wouldn’t even know she was there if it wasn’t for the accidents. The first week I took her to Philopappou she managed to insert herself between my feet causing the first in a series of twisted ankles that would sabotage my short-lived running career. But the best was yet to come. One night on the prowl - me shuffling along on my bandaged limb and her prowling around the garbage - I got mugged. Another first.
It was a bit more violent than I’d expected, as I was determined to keep my bag and he was determined to snatch it, which meant an excess amount of tugging, pushing and pulling on both sides. He eventually gave up, but not before he bestowed a variety of muscle sprains and ruptures upon my back and shoulders. Which of course led to a neck brace and a burning question: where was Pancake during all this? She’d gotten scared and run off! Of course she had. Still, I had to spend the next two weeks figuring out a way to double over and clean up her un-potty trained mess without causing further damage to my anatomy. And yet everybody loved her.
All You Need is Love
My next-door neighbors had practically begged me to dog-sit. My sister had gone gaga over her in a way I had never seen my sister go gaga before (not a pretty sight). The building administrator was offering dog tips instead of eviction notices. My hard-as-nails mother would coo every time she threw up in her car and even my father was making a worthy effort to keep his animal repulsion in check by building her a pretty doggy house (which she later ate). And people were talking to me. They were striking up conversations left and right, on the hill, in the park even in the store when they saw me picking up dog food. I felt more at home in the street than I did in my own apartment.
The instant connection you’d feel to a random stranger just because they took time to pat your dog deserves an entire psychological study of its own. Pancake went on to methodically destroy my apartment (carpets, floor lamps, plants, walls) and gain ten kilos while I got fitter and happier the more work she made for me. It’s been four months now and my father still offers to kick her out and people sometimes look at me funny when I pick up incontinence bed pads from the grocery store (way cheaper that doggie diapers!), but I guess I can live with that. What I can’t live without is my dog.
Gimme Shelter
The Friends of Animals Nea Filadelphia shelter, run by the wonderful Ms Kiki and a handful of other women, is currently hosting around 60 dogs and a multitude of cats, all up for adoption. On-site volunteering opportunities are limited, unless you’d like to join their unique dog-walking program, but you can always help Helen out with creative fundraising, baking goodies for bazaars, looking for adoptive pet parents and coordinating activities.
The NF shelter is one of the most active animal societies in Athens and even organizes dog blessings if you’re so inclined, provided by pet loving Anglican or Orthodox priests. The next one is scheduled for February 14th, Valentine’s Day, and you can find out more by contacting help@friendsofanimals-nf.com
For general information, please visit: friendsofanimals-nf.com
