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Greece’s PM Mitsotakis Adopts Stray Dog Named Peanut

Greece Mitsotakis stray dog
Peanut awaits the arrival of PM Mitsotakis. Credit: Instagram/Mitsotakis

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has adopted a Greek stray dog according to an announcement on his Instagram account.

“Peanut came into our lives! He chose us when two weeks ago we visited the Ilioupoli Animal Welfare Association on the occasion of the International Day of Stray Animals. Open your arms and save a stray!” he wrote in his account.

“The truth is that I did not chose him, he chose us,” Mitsotakis added.

Peanut has already explored all areas of the Maximos Palace, the PM’s official residence and is rapidly adapting to his new environment. He has already won the love of all employees while he generously displays his tenderness to all.

Greece Mitsotakis stray dog
Peanut enjoys cuddling. Credit: Instagram/Mitsotakis

Greece’s financial crisis of the past decade brought with it many problems, including, tragically, the abandonment of pets. Many people during this years left their dogs and cats in the street because they could not afford to keep them, greatly increasing the population of stray animals in the country.

Greece is introducing sweeping new regulations for pet owners and pet sellers and stricter penalties for animal abuse in a new bill brought before Parliament on Thursday.

Presenting the bill, Alternate Minister of Interior Stelios Petsas said that the new “framework for pets shows our humanity.”

The new bill now explicitly includes the five internationally-recognized animal freedoms.

These are: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from unnecessary suffering and strain, freedom from pain, injury and illness, freedom from fear and anxiety, and the freedom to express normal behaviors in appropriate living conditions.

Greece Mitsotakis stray dog
Peanut takes a walk inside Maximos Mansion, the official residence of the Greek PM

Mitsotakis follows President Sakallaropoulou’s example

Mitsotakis has followed the example set by Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou who officially adopted a stray kitten named Calypso from the island of Karpathos, making the tiny feline the very first stray cat ever adopted by a Greek President while in office.

Greek president adopts kitten
Katerina Sakellaropoulou with her new companion. Credit: Animal Welfare Karpathos/Facebook

Sakellaropoulou first met the tiny kitten in October, when she made an official visit to Greece’s Karpathos, the second largest island in the Dodecanese archipelago, to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the island’s liberation from the Italians during World War II.

While on the beautiful island, rich with history and local tradition, Sakellaropoulou toured museums, cultural centers, and the town hall, and met with residents of Karpathos.

On October 4, World Animal Day, Sakellaropoulou made a stop at the Animal Welfare Organization of Karpathos, where she expressed her love for animals and her dedication to animal rights and the fight against animal abuse.

While there, she laid eyes on the adorable kitten, Calypso and was reportedly instantly smitten with her.

The head of the Animal Welfare Organization of Karpathos, Sophia Hiras-Mikros, formalized the adoption of the lucky kitten by President Sakellaropoulou during a visit to the Presidential Mansion in Athens in early November, and Calypso has been a resident of the Greek Presidential Mansion ever since.

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