A memorandum of understanding for the protection of companion animals was signed in a special ceremony by the Ministers of the Interior, Theodoris Livanios, and Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis.

The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Vassilis Spanakis, the Special Secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals, Nikolaos Chryssakis, the General Secretary of Public Order, Panagiotis Stathis, the Chief of the Greek Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Dimitrios Mallios, senior officers of the Greek Armed Forces and officials from the interior ministry.

Mr. Livanios noted that the phenomenon of active and passive abuse of animals is constantly increasing and is associated with other forms of violence and crime, so coordinated and multi-level cooperation between EL.AS and the special secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals becomes imperative. He referred to the necessity of joint actions for the protection and well-being of companion animals, the promotion of philanthropy and the information and awareness of civil society, while at the same time he thanked the Minister of Citizen Protection for the great interest shown by ELAS in protection issues of animals.

On his part, Mr. Chrysochoidis noted that the signing of the memorandum of understanding is a realization of the government’s commitments for the protection of animals, in the context of the anti-crime policy of the Hellenic Police. He also added that it is a priority to develop specialized actions per region, which will be defined jointly, depending on the local needs and the particularities that exist, so that the activity of the Greek Armed Forces acquires depth, institutionality and readiness, as he typically said .

Subsequently, the special secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals, presented the 10 axes of joint strategic actions that will be developed by the competent services of the two ministries, on the basis, as he said, of strong strategic cooperation and reciprocity, given that the police is the preeminent implementing body of law and order and security. In this context, the action agenda moves further towards strengthening the training, awareness and strengthening of the field of knowledge of combat police officers.

The Head of EL.AS, in turn, referred to the importance of the already good cooperation between the two agencies and emphasized that the police officers, in the context of the social policing plan, act sensitively for the protection of animals and will incorporate the proposals into their actions those included in the Memorandum and can be implemented for greater efficiency.

The Memorandum of Understanding will be valid for two years with the possibility of renewing and updating the actions.

According to this, the joint actions have as their main objective:

* the reduction of incidents of active and passive abuse of animals

* the prevention and prevention of related crimes

* the implementation of focused preventive/ sample checks of companion animals

* informing citizens about the proper functioning of the pet marking and registration system

* the more effective implementation of the applicable national and EU legislation for the protection and good treatment of companion animals

* the awareness of citizens in issues of safeguarding the rights of animals.