In general, do Greek Restaurants owners hate it when you feed the cats?
 

I'm still traumatized by an event that happened to me in Santorini a few years back where my friend & I fed one of the more grungy cats at our table and the waiter kicked him! It was awful. Anyway, I am headed back this June and was wondering. When I was in Turkey this past summer I found myself feeding them once we were done with the meal away from people eating to avoid any "ugliness." Any thoughts?

I don't suppose you said anything at all to the offensive waiter did you?

Many of us did, yes. People were appalled.

If you want to feed cats (or dogs or pigeons) do it outside, away from other people eating.

The waiter was wrong in kicking the cat, but he was right in not tolerating feeding an animal in an establishment designed to feed humans only.

I agree with FainaAgain that feeding the cat in the restaurant is not right (I would do it though) Greeks are not known as animal lovers ie look what happened at the Olympics and how they treated dogs.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5436880/

I am of Greek descent so I do not mean to be disrespectful of my heritage.

The feral cats that infest the islands are a sad testimony to the locals' lack of compassion for the less fortunate critters that have struggled to survive in the off-season. By the end of September they're all fat and sleek from the handouts at the restaurants, but in the meantime they are considered a health hazard on the same level as rats and mice. Would you feed them if they came begging to your table?. There are so few people trying to make a difference when it comes to their care that it must seem like an impossible task, especially when they're treated so badly by most locals. I usually am adopted by one or more of these pathetic creatures when I'm there for a long stay, they know a soft touch when they see one. As sad as it is, a restaurant is not a good place to be feeding them in spite of the presence of the otherwise disposable food scraps, but as far as I'm concerned doing so away from the sight of other diners is a good thing.

Absolutely right, Faina Again.

I was brought up never to feed animals AT the table, only people - LOL.

AP6380 - I appreciate that you felt bad about the sad skinny grungy cat, but next day you are not there, and maybe the next person to dine at that table hates/is allergic to cats. If a cat is fed from a table it will return expecting to be fed again, and the restaurants will not want to be encouraging these (probably) semi-feral cats.

I have a semi-feral cat (17 years now!), born and bred in the wild, who lives outside, never comes in the house (doesn't really want to and panics if she does), dislikes much human attention, and so I feed her outside. This means we are pestered by well-fed neighbouring house cats who come and try to steal her food just because it is there! Drives me mad, so I can find some sympathy with that waiter's impatience, although kicking is a bit much - I just squirt water and hiss!

Oh, Julia, I want to hear your hissing :))

While I am usually a very sappy animal person, I did find myself “toughening up” while in Turkey. My father wanted to feed them while we were eating & I tried to encourage him to do it after the meal a little distance away from the tables. It’s so sad as so many “typical” images of Greece are cats hopping from Cycladic roof to roof, and to hear that the locals do not care for them is upsetting!

We go to Greece every year and I always feed the cats scraps at the end of the meal. The waiters never tend to be too bothered by this. I would have been very upset if I'd witnessed what you saw. I have been to many restaurants in Greece where they give the cats the scraps from the kitchen at the end on the evening too. You will find that most British people will feed the cats. Whereabouts in Greece are you going in June?

Hi AP,

>...my friend & I fed one of the more grungy cats at our table and the waiter kicked him!<

The waiter kicked your friend for feeding a cat? That is not acceptable.

((I))

In Cyprus a waiter told us that they name cats after people they dislike.

AP--these are not house pets. The kind of animals you describe are not domesticated and thus it would be analogous to feeding squirrels and/or raccoons in a restaurant.

When I've traveled in Greece and encountered stray cats, I've given them food but not at a restaurant. Had a feeling patron would not like encouraging them to hang around.

Here's a tip--whatever you do, do NOT pet or pick up those stray cats. I picked up a little case of ringworm (a skin fungus) from an irresistible cutie pie kitten at Delphi once. I had hand sanitizer and used it right after I had pet the kitty...but not before I had brushed my hair off my forehead. Bingo, a week later, rash on my forehead!

When we rented an apartment in Crete, we were told by the landlord not to feed the cats that were hanging around. Fortunately for us, they did not come to our door; it would have been difficult not to feed them if they had appeared to be hungry.

But squirrels and raccoons in general do not come up to you and rub on your legs, so I don't feel so inclined to feed them!

By the way, I am in the same profession as you, socialworker :)

I find it appalling that these countries don't know the meaning of the words spaying and neutering. Euthenesia isn't allowed in Greece but poisoning the dogs and cats is? Sadly, there are some men, who derive great pleasure in going after the animals. Guess it makes them feel manly. I'm sure it's to make up for all their shortcomings.

I don't think Greece will be a place I will be traveling to soon.

So many people fail to realize just how much cats keep the rodent population down.

Hi again, AP--sorry if I came across sounding like a hard-hearted social worker--I'm not--but we had our own experience w/the feral cats who "patrol" the beach in Palm Beach, FL and they kind of creeped me out...I can see how they might not be welcomed by the restaurant staffs who have to deal w/them daily, altho I agree that brutality is not an appropriate response.

In San Francisco we feed the squarrels off hands. In parks, of course, not in the restaurants!

For me the saddest thing is that some of those cats die in the winter months when there are no tourists to feed them.

When my husband and I were on Mykonos late October last year we chatted with a lovely elderly lady who every day brought food for stray cats to a little woooded spot behind the church. There were so many cats around her and we were told they wait for her hours before she is due.

She explained to us that now most tourists had left the island the animals were very hungry and some of those just wouldnt make it through the winter as locals do not feed them. She also explained that kittens born July/August/September were most at risk and usually did not survive.

Those beautiful little creatures don't deserve that and that's why i so agree with Madison about spaying and neutering in teh first instance.

milley