I'm an animal loving tourist - I think?

Did you know that before and after the European tourist season, governments clean the streets from cats and dogs in, for example: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey?

Many animals are poisoned and die a very painful death, others are beaten to death, or hanged and strangled. Many are hit by cars and left to die.

Some end up in horrible captivity where life is frightening and tormenting, and many die of disease or starvation. Enclosures in these countries are hot in summer and cold in winter. The animals die from heat stroke or freeze to death. The country and the business sector does not want that these animals disturb the good impression of their country and affect tourism negatively.

None of these countries have made efforts to curb the stray animal population by neutering campaigns, or information about neutering to the public. Instead, these countries chose to poison or otherwise get rid of their abandoned, unwanted companion animals. Never or rarely do they punish someone for abuse or murder of animals. These countries are making a strict difference between an animal with an owner and an abandoned animal. In these countries, an abandoned animal can be treated as badly as you like and in many eyes they are seen as unwanted debris that disrupts the community.

Some of these countries still enjoy the torture of bulls during bullfights and have a variety of traditions in which animals are involved and tormented. In all these countries, dogs are used for hunting. These dogs are treated very badly and starvation to death is common between the hunting seasons. They are often killed or abandoned after a bad game.