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Damian Mac Con Uladh
A Gael in Greece
Loukanikos, Greeces famous riot dog, barks his last
In General, Greek crisis on 9 October 2014 at 1:17 pm


Loukanikos at a demonstartion on Syntagma Square. 5 October 2011 (Photo: Odysseas Gp/Flickr)
The death of Loukanikos, the Greek riot or protest dog that so fascinated the worlds media for his antics
during austerity-fuelled disturbances in Athens city centre, has been announced.
Breaking the news, Avgi, a daily newspaper affiliated with Syriza, said the dog had died peacefully, some
months ago, in the home of a man who has cared for him over the years.
So great was the celebrity canines fame that he was included in Time magazines top 100 personalities of
2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn1HApiNUxM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_dog

The dog, who was found wandering the streets at a young age, was named Thodoros by the person who
took him in.

Meaning sausage, the Loukanikos label later stuck, as Greeces front-line riot dog (BBC) took part in all
the major demonstrations against troika-imposed austerity, always on the side of the people.

According to Avgi journalist Petros Katsakos, the dogs health was adversely affected by tear gas and from
being kicked by police, forcing him to retire from active protest about two years ago.

He was on the couch sleeping, when suddenly his heart stopped beating, Loukanikos carer told Avgi.

The dog was believed to have been ten years of age when he died on May 21.

The four-legged revolutionary was laid to rest under a tree on a hill in the centre of the city.

In a 2011 song, American indie singer/songwriter Davis Rovics saluted this brave dogs fight for justice in
the economic turmoil that has hit Greece.

Riot dog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Riot dog is a term used by English-speaking media denoting any of the stray dogs that, in recent years,
accompany street protesters in Athens, Greece.
[1]
It has been observed that a number of these dogs remain
among the protesters even when violent rioting breaks out.
[2][3]
Some of the dogs have been prominently
featured in media reportage on the protests.
[4]
Greece's Riot Dogs have acquired, through the years, a large
following of fans around the world.
[5][6][7]


The dogs

Kanellos (Greek: : cinnamon), a distinct blonde, male, mixed-breed canine,
[8]
was arguably the
first incarnation of the Greek Riot Dog. His maiden appearance was in photographs taken at a general
assembly of students in the occupied National Technical University of Athens. Kanellos became famous in the
2008 Greek riots, when Greek photographers and cameramen started to notice a dog that kept appearing in
their footage.
[1][4]
The stray seemed to always walk amongst and side with the protesters.
[9]


According to reports by witnesses, Kanellos, in his final years, suffered from arthritis, which motivated a
group of college students to collect money and purchase him a dog's wheelchair. This allowed him to live
indoors, among the students, until he died.
[10]


Thodoris is a Kanellos look-alike, believed to be one of Kanellos' pups. Thodoris is a light golden-colored,
mixed breed dog, who, despite being a stray, has seemingly been provided with all the necessary medical
shots, as evidenced by his blue collar.
[7][11]


Loukanikos (Greek: : sausage) or more commonly Louk, sometimes confused by the media for
Kanellos,
[12]
has been present at nearly every recent protest in Greece in the past few years.
[12]
This stray
has ostensibly become the symbol of Greek protests against the IMF- and ECB-prompted austerity
measures.
[13]
There's uncertainty about the claim that Loukanikos and Thodoris may, in fact, be the same
dog.
[14]


In September 2011, on the occasion of a striking policemen's union marching in the centre of Athens,
[15]

Loukanikos, according to eyewitnesses,
[14]
was "initially confused" between two opposite sides both of
uniformed policemen but, when the riot police contingent attacked their striking colleagues, the dog sided
with "those who were being attacked."

Loukanikos' health was "severely burdened" by the inhaling of tear gas and other chemicals during the many
riots in which he participated
[16]
but lived until approximately ten years of age, dying peacefully in early
October 2014 at the home of a person who cared for him.
[16]


In culture
In 2011, American singer/songwriter David Rovics released a song entitled "The Riot Dog".
[17]


Gallery


Kanellos near the speakers' table, in the general assembly of students, National Technical University of
Athens, ca. 2007


Thodoris narrowly avoiding a kick by a riot policeman, 2011

Video footage
"Sausage, the riot dog of Greece", Reuters report
"Greece's front-line riot dog", BBC News
"Riot dog stands his ground as Greek firefighters protest in Central Athens-March 26, 2009",
independent media

See also
2008 Greek riots
20102011 Greek protests

References
1. "Riot Dog fans", News.com, Australia, 11 May 2010
2. "Greece's front-line riot dog", BBC News, 17 June 2011
3. "With Dog on Your Side" by Jon Queally, Common Dreams, 5 July 2010
4. "Demo dog loves street protests", The Sun, 7 May 2010
5. "Grekisk rebellhund hyllas p ntet" ("Greek rebel dog is hailed on the web"), Dagliga Nyheter,
5 August 2010 (in Swedish)
6. "Ein griechischer Held" ("A Greek Hero"), KampfLieder, 11 October 2011 (in German)
7. "Amid the turmoil of the Greece financial crisis, photos and videos of street protests have
turned up a kind of canine "Where's Waldo" figure: a mutt that....clearly has a strong interest in civic
disorder": From "Mysterious 'Rebel Dog' of Greek riots becoming latest Web icon" by Brett Dykes, Yahoo
News, 7 May 2010
8. "Kanellos the Greek protest dog makes another appearance" WINK-TV, CBS affiliate, 7 May
2010
9. "The hound always seems to side with the protesters, whatever the dispute." From "Kanellos
the Greek protest dog", The Guardian, 6 May 2010
10. "OK! lets clear this out" RebelDog website
11. "Mange Against the Machine", by Paul Katie, Newsweek, May 2010
12. "Loukanikos, the Greek anarchist dog" LibCom, 8 May 2010
13. "Activist hounding Greek cabinet", The Australian, 20 June 2011
14. "Kanellos and Thodoris Loukanikos" by 'Karlo Krystaller', Black Capitalism, 25 December 2011
(in Greek)
15. "Police protest low salaries", Kathimerini, 27 September 2011
16. "Ena Adio Ston Loukaniko" ("A Goodbye to Loukanikos"), Avgi, 9 October 2014 (in Greek)
17. " 'Lucky ' " ("The short story of Lucky 'Louk' "), in Dimokratia, 24 June
2011 (in Greek)

External links
Kanellos | Facebook
Louk | Facebook
Loukanikos | Facebook
"The Greek protest dog" picture gallery in The Guardian

https://www.facebook.com/kanellos.dog

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