We, the undersigned, call upon the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Costas SIMITIS; the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Georgios DRYS and the General Secretary of the Greek Tourism organization, Mr. Dimitrios GREGORAKIS, and The President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Costis STEFANOPOULOS to solve the problem of the ever-increasing stray dog and cat population in Greece by: implementing a nation-wide spay, neuter, release and identification program; an educational program on responsible pet ownership; enforcing existing animal protection laws. This is by far the cheapest solution available.

The answer is not to home the animals in shelters to prepare for the Olympics 2004. Running costs would be enormous. Given the number of strays in Greece, it is unlikely they will all be re-homed and this ultimately means euthanasia. The fact that it is common practice to abandon unwanted and non-spayed/neutered pets in parks, streets, forests all over Greece, will perpetuate the problem endlessly.