Memoir

My four beloved dogs, Princess, Queenie, Drakoumen and Spitha, were sprawled, motionless on the sand. Their legs were bound and they were leg tied together in a circle. They had been deliberately shot to death. My tiny rescue Spitha had a small American flag shoved down her throat. Their eyes were open. Dried blood, pain and fear enshrouded them in a blanket of death.

It was this moment that I vowed to God and the universe that I would one day obtain justice for their deaths and for every animal that died in my helpless arms during the 14 years I struggled and fought to create change in this very cruel venue. I vowed that I would memorialize every animal that crossed over to a final peace and would bring tribute to every animal that would be cursed to be born, to exist and to die in Greece. It will be done.

The next morning, after 14 years of building and managing a lucrative business, I left Skiathos, my husband, a million dollar enterprise and fled with Twinkie, Perky and Ebony and one suitcase to Athens. For three months,I stayed with my best friend, Shey Rokkas, a Canadian girl married to George Rokkas, a popular Greek soccer player and then without a backward glance I left for America.

I filed for divorce; from the man; from the country. The lingering visions of suffering and death and my pain are palpable to my core and have never left me and never will. Deliberate animal abuse and willful neglect are rampant in Greece and have been for decades. Poisoning, shooting, hanging, drowning, deliberate starvation and far worse are a way of life for the animals of Greece.