Greek Cafe Opens Its Doors To Stray Dogs Every Night
Each day a cafe in Mytilene, Greece close its doors, only to reopen them again at 3 a.m. for the city’s stray dogs.
The cafe, Hot Spot, allows homeless pups to escape the dropping winter temperatures so they can use the sofas and “sleep without being cold,” writes Greek blog Zoosos. Earlier this week, photos of sleeping dogs laying on the cafe’s seating went viral.
“[Greece] has strict laws about animal protection, but culture and knowledge are the key factors for changing long standing indifference, negligence or maltreatment,” wrote Eustratios Papanis who shared the shot. “More than 700.000 refugees from Syria and other Middle East countries have entered Europe from this island this year and solidarity towards humans and animals was remarkable.”
It appears the residents have no problem sharing the space with the dogs. One waiter told The Independent that “customers don’t have a problem” with the cafe providing temporary shelter, which it has been doing so since July.
In fact, the community, despite its large number of strays, is very canine-friendly. It’s estimated there is over one million stray dogs in Greece due to the debt crisis.
“Here in Greece our homes are not large enough for all of us to house animals,” an Athens resident told LifeWithDogs.tv. “That’s why we look after the street dogs. We feed them, pet them, and play with them. They are like our own pets, but they belong to everyone instead.”
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Photo: Facebook/Eustratios Papanis