The Agora Dog in Athens, Greece

My service at the Pet Grooming House has resulted in a 40-page essay about the "animal-friendly" entities who serve stray animals for free and without medical paperwork in Athens. These entities, unknowingly to the locals and the Greek government, are singlehandedly promoting stray adoption and animal welfare in the city without any financial incentivization. My research on this topic, through work-based learning at the PGH, has resulted in many surprising findings and recommendations for the government to care for the stray population and promote stray adoption by locals. I am excited to share these findings with the GW community, as well as the Greek government and Athens municipality when they are done being evaluated.

Moreover, I had the opportunity to conduct ethnographic research on the topic of my paper. I actually went to the Athenian Agora, the home of a very friendly and large stray dog named Brandt. My teacher had known this dog for ten years and offered to come with us to coach him to my site. I then walked him one hour to the PGH to be groomed and cared for free. It took over ten bottles of soap to get the dirt out of his fur, and we must have pulled out over 10 plants from his tail and back. He was also the most well-behaved dog I had ever seen being groomed at the PGH. After his grooming, I put on his new collar I bought him, gave him some treats, and brought him back to his home. My favorite part of this experience was that the owner of the PGH actually let me do the grooming myself. For the first time, I went through the entire (3.5 hr) process myself, cleaning this loving bear of a dog. I also was able to observe the process of taking a stray dog from the streets myself (not just asking people about it), the criticism from nearby Greek police/soldiers who saw us, the looks from different people as we walked together, and the difference in looks after he was cleaned. This experience contributed to my research and added a different element to the findings. I am overwhelming grateful for these experiences in Athens, and the kindness of the PGH.