For World Stray Animal Day, one Greek art museum is letting people bring a very special guest: their dogs.
According to Hyperallergic, The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens announced that this coming Sunday, April 2, they’re allowing museum patrons to bring their dogs with them. Importantly, the event coincides with World Stray Animal Day, a day of remembrance for the millions of animals around the world without homes.
Additionally, the museum is also partnering with a local rescue shelter, Socrates Shelter, to welcome visitors with a “puddle of puppies” that also happen to be adoptable.
Working Together and Saving Dogs on World Stray Animal Day
When Katerina Gregos, the museum’s artistic director, first took her post in 2021, she immediately wanted to include pets. Amazingly, the National Museum of Contemporary Art is the only museum in the region that allows dogs. Gregos also told Hyperallergic that the museum isn’t just allowing dogs for one day. Incredibly, the museum is open to leashed, well-behaved pets all year.
For Socrates Shelter, working with the museum is an opportunity to get some dogs into forever homes. Besides that, however, the shelter also wants to raise awareness about stray dogs. Across the world, stray dogs live in incredible danger and face real threats. In India, misinformation has fueled violent attacks against strays. And in Turkey, stray dogs are subjected to unethical treatment and have suffered greatly because of it.
For the shelter’s staff and volunteers, the main goal is to treat every dog that comes through their doors “with love and kindness.” Incredibly, Socrates Shelter single-handedly provides food, shelter, and medical care for all the stray dogs within their municipality. The shelter opened in 2021 and is funded by Athens’s Municipal Department of Urban Fauna.
Dogs Have Always Been a Part of Art History
The event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. Dog owners are expected to bring waste bags to pick up after their dogs and keep their canines leashed at all times.
If the idea of dogs as art crossed your mind, you might want to take a look at some of these fantastic dog-centric museums. While you’re at it, how about learning some peculiar art history involving dogs as muses?
