Regional Impact Reduce Abandonment
Since 2018, Zero Stray pawject and the municipality of aegina partnered to systematically reduce abandonment
Start of a new prevention program
Zero Stray Pawject and the municipality of Aegina team up to launch an array of public policy programs that tackle the root-cause of stray dogs, which is abandonment and overpopulation. The objective is to prevent a dog from ending up on the street. Dog microchipping and registration is mandatory by law since 2012, but it has never been enforced and many municipalities don’t know what tools they can use to promote mandatory microchipping with their constituents. A microchipped dog cannot be abandoned. A dog with a microchip is no longer anonymous. Our program aims to encourage microchipping and to build a culture that no dog should be without a microchip.
When we started in Aegina in 2018 with 200 stray dogs and a population of 12,000 residents.
First municipal registry
Phase 1 of our program started in February 2018 in collaboration with the mayor of Aegina and the director of public health. It aims to “de-anonymize” owned dogs and thus render irresponsible owners accountable. The Aegina municipal dog registry is a first-of-its kind.
The National database had key data limitations in 2018 and did not allow for seamless access to the municipality or police forces. The Aegina municipal registry contains much richer data on each dog (e.g., neutering status and reasons why not neutering) and its owner (e.g., attitudes towards neutering, beliefs on sources of strays, previous litters, attitudes towards the problem of strays and other vital questions). The municipality can use the information in the registry to carry out specific actions including at the individual dog owner / dog level.
Donation of 8 microchip scanners
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. During that time, the outgoing mayor of Aegina Mr Mourtzis lobbied for the police to accept the scanners but it took time to find the correct administrative process for this donation to be accepted.
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!
Municipal Lottery
To encourage owners to microchip their dogs, ZSP funded a bi-weekly municipal lottery program between 2018 and 2019. Residents were informed through a waterbill insert, which were sent to every household my the municipal water authorities. Owners who microchipped and registered their dog as the law mandates, entered a municipal lottery. The Municipality of Aegina awarded 24 dog owners who microchipped and registered their dogs in a bi-weekly lottery with a 200 EUR check.
We had some emotional stories, including a woman battling cancer who used her prize money for her cancer treatment.
A coast guard officer and his father both won 200 EUR and set an example of being responsible citizens in their community.
The first ever municipal lottery was set up and funded by Zero Stray Pawject for the municipality of Aegina and operated by the municipality.
The program was met with a lot of enthusiasm as it is considered to be a positive incentive to encourage responsible dog ownership (carrot) and to drive a mindset and behavior change.
Subsidized microchipping of 185 owned dogs
Many people cannot afford to microchip their dog(s). Therefore testing the impact of a lower cost option became central to our pilot. In early 2019, Welttierschutz-gesellschaft e.V. funded the first round of subsidies for families who could not afford the cost of microchipping. Eligible citizens of Aegina (based on income criteria) paid only 10 EUR instead of 40 EUR + VAT tax. All four local vets helped by offering a helpful discount. Residents of Aegina were informed through various marketing channels, The most successful one was an insert in the municipal waterbills. 6,000 such inserts were sent to every Aegina citizen in their municipal waterbill.
After only 3 months we achieved our goal of 185 REGISTRATIONS, an INCREDIBLE RESULT !
2,000 municipal dog tags donated
Zero Stray Pawject designed, produced funded municipal dog tags in partnership with WTG. Municipal dog tags display each registered dogs unique Aegina dog registry number.
This is the first time that any Greek municipality issues municipal dog tags. Over 1,200 municipal dog tags have been distributed since 2019. * Local animal lovers in Aegina have told us that they have seen dogs with municipal dog tags on their collars. This has contributed to a behavioral change.
*status Jan 2021
Round 2: 200 subsidized microchipping
We had so much demand and a long waiting list of families that WTG kindly agreed to fund a second round of subsidized microchipping. The initiative started in December and will ran until March 2020 when funds for 200 owned dogs being microchipped were exhausted.
Police Enforcement
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.
Warning posters were put up in Aegina port, warning people that Aegina visitors who bring unchipped dogs might be checked and receive a 300 euro fine.
*status June 2021
10,500 citizens educated about responsible dog ownership
In February 2020, for the second time, 10,500 leaflets were sent to EVERY household of Aegina reaching every citizen of Aegina through the water bill in collaboration with the Municipal Water Authority. The leaflet educated citizens about responsible dog ownership, defying myths related to neutering and informing citizens about the subsidy programs.
Last round of subsidized microchipping
When covid hit, Zero Stray Pawject decided to fund a last round of subsidized microchipping between May 2020-Jan 2021 of over 100 owners and their dogs. Asteropi is one of the over 100 dogs who thanks to you is safe with her mom. Asteropi's mom faced financial hardship due to Covid and could not afford the cost of microchipping. She was concerned about the 300 EUR fine for unchipped dogs as well as the prospect of not finding Asteropi if she ever got lost.
Banner at the port of Aegina to stop abandonment
Shortly before Christmas, abandonments reach a high level, Zero Stray Pawject and the Municipality of Aegina launched a new creative marketing campaign at the port of Aegina to stop abandonment. A large outdoor banner was placed in the port of Aegina, informing visitors and residents that abandonment is a crime and punishable. High fines are issued thanks to the intensive work of the Hellenic Police, Forest Police and Coast Guard. The banner depicts an abandoned dog with the slogan "Did you forget something?". Saronic Ferries and Zoosos reported about our efforts.
If you want to look behind the scenes of how the photo was shot (spoiler alert, the founder’s dog Caprice was an amazing model :-) ), click here.
Over 78% of all owned dogs microchipped and registered
Change to stop abandonment requires a mindset shift. Microchipping was never considered to be important despite of the law making it mandatory in Greece. But microchipping saves lives. The microchip gets owned dogs out of anonymity and traces a stray dog back to its owner who will face legal consequences. We were able to microchip and register over 78% of the total owned dog population in the LARGEST municipal dog registry across Greece. 1,550 dogs will never become stray.
Getting close to zero stray dogs
In September 2021, our ZSP team met with the municipality of Aegina. We discussed the progress of our program. The municipality and local volunteers confirmed that the number of stray dogs has reduced significantly since we started in 2018. We started in 2018 with around 200 stray dogs and are now down to an estimated 30 stray dogs in 2021. This improves quality of life for residents, dogs and tourists. This could only be achieved through addressing the root-cause, which is abandonment and overpopulation and offer subsidies to those owners who cannot afford.
We are close to achieving our goal of zero stray dogs in Aegina which is a massive achievement in our journey of achieving zero strays. This success inspired other municipalities to reach out. This success also inspired to found Zero Stray Academy.
Related press releases :
Municipality of Aegina
Aegina Portal
Helpis
Business Insider Greece
Zoosos
National Herald
