Regional Impact Policing
Policing is a key component to zero stray dogs
Microchip controls generally do not happen across Greece although the law requires it. ZSP worked with the Hellenic Police, Forest Police and Coast Guard since 2018. Over the years, ZSP donated 8 microchip scanners to all three police forces, and trained them to carry out their duties and enforce the companion animal welfare law. It took 2 years from start to finish to find the right administrative processes for them to accept the scanners, and to start. In In October 2018, the Forrest Police was the first police force to accept the scanners and started carrying out controls, which led many hunters to rush to the vet's office to chip and register their hunting dogs to avoid a fine. The local shelter reported that the number of abandoned hunting dogs decreased in 2019. In March 2019, the Hellenic Police accepted the scanners and the local veterinarian, shelter manager and Zero Stray Pawject carried out various training programs with the police to demonstrate how the scanners work and to provide guidance of how to avoid potential dog bites from dogs whose owners may not be in full control of their dogs. Since February 2020, the police has formed a special team who go around the island, knock on doors and control whether the dog has a microchip and its general welfare. Over 1500 controls have been carried out since then, despite of a long lockdown due to covid.*. It is the first time EVER across Greece, that the police carries out microchip controls. .
In 2020, ZSP organized a workshop with the police, coast guard and mayor to collaborate for an Aegina without strays in August 2020
When all key stakeholders work together, good things happen. In late August, Zero Stay Pawject, the mayor Mr Giannis Zorbas and the director of public health Ms Sofia Hatzina, the police chief Mr Karagiannis and 2 of his officers, the lieutenant of the coast guard, deputy chief of staff Mr Vouniseas met in the mayor’s office to discuss achieve zero stray dogs in Aegina. Zero Stray Pawject presented the Zero Stray model that has been applied since 2018 in Aegina which focuses on preventing new strays from appearing in the streets of Aegina by addressing the root-cause which is abandonment.
To reduce the number of newly abandoned dogs it is crucial to have every owned dog de-anonymized through microchipping and registering every owned dog. Stray dogs do not grow on tress but are the consequence of irresponsible dog ownership and in particular abandonment. A dog that carries a microchip and is registered in the National Database and in the municipal database cannot be abandoned without repercussions. The microchip traces the dog back to its owner and the owner can get a fine of up to 1 year in jail and up to 30,000 EUR depending on the state of the dog and depending on the situation, but at least a 300 EUR fine. Policing is therefore a key component of achieving our goal of zero stray dogs in Aegina, as the first region across Greece, which currently serves as a test market or so-called model island. Many mayors and municipalities are looking at Aegina right now and are interested to bring the zero stray model to their region.
What we have done to get to this point:
Between Feb 2018 and August 2019, Zero Stray Pawject donated 8 microchip scanners to the municipality to pass on to the Forest police, the Coast Guard and the Hellenic Police. It took a while to find the right administrative process for the police to accept the scanners. By Greek law, microchip scanners should have been distributed to the police and coast guard since 2012 by the ministry of agriculture, but so far this has not happened much, certainly not on Aegina. In October 2018, the Forrest Police was the first police force to accept the scanners and started carrying out controls, which led many hunters to rush to the vet's office to chip and register their hunting dogs to avoid a fine. The local shelter reported that the number of abandoned hunting dogs decreased in 2019, so police enforcement works!
In March 2019, the Hellenic Police accepted the scanners and Despina Papachroni, the local vet, and Elena Foudouki from the shelter kindly carried out a training how to use the scanners with the Aegina police force. In August 2019 the first controls were carried out by the Coast Guard and Hellenic Police but these are more sporadic. The police and coast guard finally started to carry out intensive checks in February 2020 and issued 300 EUR fines as the law mandates. During that time, we had a spike in microchipping and registrations, a spike we had never seen. Thankfully we were able to offer subsidized microchipping at the same time for owners who could not afford the cost of microchipping. Owners only paid 10 EUR instead of 45 EUR. The initiative was funded by our long term partner Welttierschutzgesellschaft e.V. in collaboration with all five local vets in Aegina. Since 2019, over 500 owners who cannot afford the cost of microchipping benefitted of low cost microchipping thanks to our program. Warning posters were put up in Aegina port, warning people that Aegina visitors who bring unchipped dogs might be checked and receive a 300 EUR fine.
The police had to stop during the lockdown due to covid-19, but resumed in June of this year. During one of our visits, our founder heard some questions and concerns and that prompted us to organize a workshop to answer any remaining question and explain why controls are so important. The police has of course other priorities, but in order to get to zero stray dogs, policing is a key component. Concerns were for example potential dog bites during a check. ZSP came up with innovative ideas, for example how to use a scanner on a selfie stick, so that even if a dog turns around and tries to bite, the officer is protected. In addition, ZSP showed how to muzzle a dog properly, brining their own dog Caprice to the training who was an amazing role model.
The workshop clarified all questions and brought a team together to work hand in hand. We cannot thank the Hellenic police enough for all their collaboration and being such a pioneer. The coast guard office also promised to start aggressive checks at the port.
We are very happy with the outcome and are proud that all stakeholders came together to work for an Aegina without strays.
ZSP collaborates with chiefs of police and coast guard to achieve zero stray dogs - September 2020
In order to achieve zero stray dogs, it requires a societal change, driven by promoting and enforcing responsible dog ownership. Our Zero Stray Pawject Model does not only promote and subsidize basic veterinary care for owners who cannot afford, such as low cost microchipping and neutering through subsidizing, in some cases up to 95% of the actual cost for owners of low and middle income families who struggle to pay for microchipping and neutering their dogs, to avoid unwanted litter. But our model also puts strong focus on policing and working hand in hand with the local, regional and nationwide police to educate about enforcing responsible dog ownership and penalizing dog owners who don’t follow the law, who don’t microchip and register, and who even abandon or abuse.
We are therefore pleased to announce that in addition to the meeting with the local coast guard and police chief of Aegina at the end of August, our team also met the Director of the Piraeus Police Directorate, Brigadier General Kostazos, the Chief of the Greek Police Lieutenant General Karamanlakis and the Assistant Harbor Master of the Central Port Authority of Piraeus. Everybody sees the relevance of our zero stray Pawject model, why zero stray dogs will make communities a better place and we are happy that each and everyone is supporting us. Together with stronger policing we can drive real sustainable change in Greece and our Zero Stray Pawject team will continue to push forward to achieve zero stray dogs.
