Crete-Stray dogs and cats

During 35 years of traveling in Greece I have never had any issue with stray dogs or cats.
Cats are everywhere, whether on the mainland or in the islands.

The most dangerous ones occupy my place in my chair.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/R3ay21yH2p5kW5sJ6

Never met a single aggressive dog, stray or not.

The only precautions I take is to watch out for the possible presence of snakes when hiking on the islands.

Donkeys, goats, sheep are harmless, and generally speaking I think that tourists are the most dangerous animals that you might have to deal with.

Thanks for your reply!

I agree with JoLui. No worries. Enjoy Crete.

There are lots of cats. They seem to be strays but are not feral. We had a couple join us on a picnic. They were not pushy but were obviously used to being fed. We are not big cat people but enjoyed watching them.

There is a Greek man , his name is Takis , he sold his business in Athens and moved to Crete years ago to start a dog shelter .

He now cares for over 600 animals , mostly dogs , but some cats and goats too .

You can google for his fb page .

I’m sorry to say the Greeks do not all have the same compassionate attitude to animals .

You won’t find many stray dogs - as when found the police will
Call takis - however cats , unless injured , they generally ignore.

Note the cats are not feral , but also not completely tame - some are quite sweet and happily allow you to approach - generally looking for food . Be careful they don’t accidentally scratch you however ( they sometimes reach for food you are offering them and may accidentally scratch you ) we just talked to a British family where the mom got scratched and don’t think much of it - but ended up having to stay over night in council for iv antibiotics as her hand got infected .

And please - it wasn’t an attack , it had just reached up for food she was holding out to it .

The tourists and a few good locals do feed the cats . You’ll see piles in places where food has been left out for them however, I have a friend who is a local on Naxos and she said it’s very sad because in the winter obviously most of the tourist go home and she herself spends up to €100 a month trying to feed the cats that are all left there without the tourist handouts..

The good thing is on some islands Naxos in particular they do try and catch them and spay or neuter them. You’ll know that because the ears will be notched or cut to show they’ve been caught before and spayed or neutered.

Thanks for the information.