A Statement From Arche Noah Kreta

March 1st 2005

There are no legal grounds for stopping our vehicle:

In Athens, the animals have not even left Greek territory.

The use of German microchips is not illegal. According to Greek law a dog, which has been looked after for 7 days by a charity or a private person, becomes their property.

The majority of the animals had already found new owners in Germany.

Some of the animals were brought to the animal home in Chania by the municipality of Heraklion, because they were seriously injured. The action from the opponents to the animal charity is thus also directed against their own fellow countrymen, i.e. the Greek authorities on Crete!

There only existed a spoken resolution from the public prosecutor, no resolution in writing was shown.

According to Greek law, the seizure could only have been ordered by an official veterinary surgeon: none was present.

Mrs. Karagkouni confiscated the papers of the drivers herself. This not legal, since she is not a police officer, and has no such authority.

All the animals in this transport have the correct vaccinations and are microchipped.

All the animals, amongst them many puppies which have been brought up by private supporters of our charity in their own homes, would have a secure and good home to go to in Germany. Their fate in Athens is uncertain. According to the latest information, the animals are to be taken to a big Greek animal pound.

At present, a German journalist (from the Bild-Zeitung) is accompanying the Pyromane and our three drivers, Anna from Paleochora, Gaby and Steve Hoffmann. Despite hour-long telephone conversations, no conclusion had been reached on Sunday.

According to our lawyer the whole procedure is - even in Greece - illegal, because it took place within the country and not on its border to another country. Apart from this fact, we are obviously deeply concerned about the welfare of the animals in our care. The drivers Steve, his girl friend Gabi, and Anna, who accompanied them to help tend the animals, will try to at least stay near them. However, they were so far only allowed to attend to the dogs once. In the meantime, accompanied by the police, they have arrived in an "animal home" in Athens, where the dogs were unloaded.

Furthermore, Mrs. Karagkouni has, under the pretence of being an official, taken possession of all our transport papers (statutory declaration, legal certificate and a letter of support from the German Embassy in Athens). As in the past, she justifies her actions by claiming that we want to sell the animals for animal experiments, and thus violate Greek animal protection laws.

We ask all animal lovers to act together, and to bring the Greek authorities to adhere at last to their own laws, and to stop the dubious actions of those opposed to animal welfare!

Please send your protest letters directly to the Ministry of Agriculture in Athens:
Fax: 0030-210-5240955.
e-mail: ax2u098@minagric.gr