{"id":4909,"date":"2014-10-31T01:12:26","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T22:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/?p=4909"},"modified":"2020-10-06T14:17:59","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T14:17:59","slug":"the-story-of-loukanikos-and-other-greek-riot-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/the-story-of-loukanikos-and-other-greek-riot-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Touching Story of Loukanikos and Other Greek Riot Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a quiet day in May 2014, when the Greek riot dog that had been on Time’s “Personalities of the year”<\/strong> list in 2011, was sleeping peacefully as his heart stopped beating on the couch of his human caretaker.<\/p>\n

The dog’s name was Loukanikos<\/strong>, the Greek word for “Sausage.<\/strong>” He was 10 years old, and he will be remembered.<\/h2>\n

Loukanikos will be remembered through the dozens of articles, like the one you are reading, that was written in his memory and honor. He will be remembered by the street art murals and video footage of foreign correspondents that recorded him. He was one of the\u00a0Riot Dogs<\/strong>, and he lives on in the heart of Greek protesters everywhere.<\/p>\n

What are the Riot Dogs?<\/h3>\n

Loukanikos is not the first dog to assist protesters in Athens conflicts. He was actually the third dog to side with rioters, even when the situation turned violent. The first Riot dog was Kanellos<\/strong>, or Cinnamon<\/strong>, who was present during the riots of December 2008, the most violent riots to happen in Greece in recent memory.<\/p>\n

Following the unjust killing of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos<\/a> by police officers<\/strong>, the city burned for at least 4 days and nights, with the riots and protest marches taking place constantly and consecutively within the span of three weeks, not counting the aftermath, all across Greek cities, igniting protests and riots across several foreign countries, as well.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yn1HApiNUxM<\/p>\n

After Cinnamon, another pup, possibly Cinnamon’s pup, was noticed in riots and protests, and as given the name “Theodore<\/strong>“. However, there is some speculation that Loukanikos and Theodore are, in fact, the same dog.<\/p>\n

The story of Loukanikos<\/h2>\n

It is not known where the dog came from, the earliest recollection of his appearance being <\/strong>by the caretaker on whose couch he died<\/strong>. He saw the dog when he was merely a stray pup, roaming the streets of downtown Athens.<\/p>\n