Animal rights groups decry conditions at Aegina sanctuary

Inspections conducted by animal rights groups and the Environment Ministry have shed light on deteriorating standards at the Greek Center for the Protection of Wildlife (EKPAZ) on the Saronic island of Aegina, where dozens of animals and birds, some of them endangered species, are languishing in dismal conditions.

“The smell was suffocating, because of piles of trash and cardboard boxes, dirty animal transport crates, animal feces and rotting food,” the ANIMA Association for the Protection and Welfare of Wildlife said in a report following a recent inspection.

The Greek Ornithological Society has also warned the Environment Ministry – which has also found conditions at the facility to be well below standard in two inspections, one in December and the other in late June – that unless it intervenes to have the animals, including 66 birds, that are housed at the center moved to more suitable facilities, they are at risk of dying.