Riot dog
Riot Dog is a term used by English-speaking media denoting any of the stray dogs that, in recent years, accompany street protesters in Athens, Greece.[1] It has been observed that a number of these dogs remain among the protesters even when violent rioting breaks out. [2][3] Some of the dogs have been prominently featured in media reportage on the protests.[4] Greece's Riot Dogs have acquired, through the years, a large following of fans around the world.[5][6][7]
Contents |
[edit] The dogs
Kanellos (Greek: Κανέλλος: cinnamon), a distinct blonde, male, mixed-breed canine[8], was arguably the first incarnation of the Greek Riot Dog. His maiden appearance was in photographs taken at a general assembly of students in the occupied National Technical University of Athens. Kanellos became famous in the 2008 Greek riots, when Greek photographers and cameramen started to notice a dog that kept appearing in their footage.[1][4] The stray seemed to always walk amongst and side with the protesters.[9]
According to reports by witnesses, Kanellos, in his final years, suffered from arthritis, which motivated a group of college students to collect money and purchase him a dog's wheelchair. This allowed him to live indoors, among the students, until he passed away.[10]
Thodoris is a Kanellos look-alike, believed to be one of Kanellos' pups. Thodoris is a light golden-colored, mixed breed dog, who, despite being a stray, has seemingly been provided with all the necessary medical shots, as evidenced by his blue collar.[7][11]
Loukanikos (Greek: Λουκάνικος: sausage) or more commonly Louk, sometimes confused by the media for Kanellos[12], has been present at nearly every recent protest in Greece in the past few years.[12] This stray has ostensibly become the symbol of Greek protests against the IMF- and ECB-prompted austerity measures.[13] There's uncertainty about the claim that Loukanikos and Thodoris may, in fact, be the same dog.[14]
In September 2011, on the occasion of a striking policemen's union marching in the centre of Athens[15], Loukanikos, according to eyewitnesses[14], was "initially confused" between two opposite sides both of uniformed policemen but, when the riot police contingent attacked their striking colleagues, the dog sided with "those who were being attacked."
[edit] Gallery
-
Kanellos near the speakers' table, in the general assembly of students, National Technical University of Athens, ca. 2007
-
Thodoris narrowly avoiding a kick by a riot policeman, 2011
-
Loukanikos in street action, 2011
[edit] Video footage
- "Sausage, the riot dog of Greece", Reuters report
- "Greece's front-line riot dog", BBC News
- "Riot dog stands his ground as Greek firefighters protest in Central Athens-March 26, 2009", independent media
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Riot Dog fans", News.com, Australia, 11 May 2010
- ^ "Greece's front-line riot dog", BBC News, 17 June 2011
- ^ "With Dog on Your Side" by Jon Queally, Common Dreams, 5 July 2010
- ^ a b "Demo dog loves street protests", The Sun, 7 May 2010
- ^ "Grekisk rebellhund hyllas på nätet" ("Greek rebel dog is hailed on the web"), Dagliga Nyheter, 5 August 2010 (in Swedish)
- ^ "Ein griechischer Held" ("A Greek Hero"), KampfLieder, 11 October 2011 (in German)
- ^ a b "Amid the turmoil of the Greece financial crisis, photos and videos of street protests have turned up a kind of canine "Where's Waldo" figure: a mutt that....clearly has a strong interest in civic disorder": From "Mysterious 'Rebel Dog' of Greek riots becoming latest Web icon" by Brett Dykes, Yahoo News, 7 May 2010
- ^ "Kanellos the Greek protest dog makes another appearance" WINK-TV, CBS affiliate, 7 May 2010
- ^ "The hound always seems to side with the protesters, whatever the dispute." From "Kanellos the Greek protest dog", The Guardian, 6 May 2010
- ^ "OK! let’s clear this out" RebelDog website
- ^ "Mange Against the Machine", by Paul Katie, Newsweek, May 2010
- ^ a b "Loukanikos, the Greek anarchist dog" LibCom, 8 May 2010
- ^ "Activist hounding Greek cabinet", The Australian, 20 June 2011
- ^ a b "Kanellos and Thodoris Loukanikos" by 'Karlo Krystaller', Black Capitalism, 25 December 2011 (in Greek)
- ^ "Police protest low salaries", Kathimerini, 27 September 2011
[edit] External links
- Kanellos | Facebook
- Louk | Facebook
- Loukanikos | Facebook
- "The Greek protest dog" picture gallery in The Guardian
