I am paralyzed. I am not able to recover from the shock: Giulia Philippoy-Corleone is not among us anymore. Giu – as her friends called her – was killed in a traffic accident on September 12th 2012 in Keratea, in the west of Athens. Her family and friends are now desperately seeking true pet lovers to adopt the dogs she was taking care of. And the owners who had given their pets to Giu to train them.
“Thank you for everything you offered to us – your four-legged friends” (posted by her brother Xristos Kotsokolos in Facebook)
Giulia was a dog trainer. Specialized to train abused dogs with aggressive or unsocial behaviour and teach them back to normal. She had succeeded in doing this in several cases.
A young and active woman, a brave and devoted heart. I remember her telling me so often, she had just returned from A and she was packing again to travel to B – all around Greece to aid dogs and their owners. Or abused and abandoned strays.
I personally met Giu due to “grieving dog Jack“. The dog whose owners were brutally murdered. She took the dog and helped him overcome the trauma. At the end, she couldn’t resist to the glance in his eyes and she adopted him.
We spoke from time to time, we exchanged ideas, our plans for the future. A future, we were both imagining to be without social injustice, hate, envy and abused animals.
She used to brief me about the progress of Jack and the film where he was explaining the economic crisis from the point of view of a Greek stray.
We were in contact. Not too often, not too rare. I knew, she was always there when a dog was in need…
Giu is not among us anymore. “A woman lost her life due to indifference,” a news portal had posted on September 12th. That woman was Giu.
An eye-witness had logded a complaint to enikos.gr saying “the traffic accident occurred at the crossroad of Keratea because the traffic lights were not fucntioning as PPC/DEH had cut the electricity. There was no traffic policeman on the spot to coordinate the traffic. If the indifference wasn’t that striking, the family of the woman wouldn’t mourn today.”
Hundreds of animals lovers in Greece and abroad, hundreds of pets mourn together with Giu’s family.
Farewell, Giu! We will always remember you as the shiny face bringing light to the grim lives of many abused dogs…
How to Help for Giu’s Dogs
Some volunteers are currently taking care of the dogs, Giu left behind in Keratea and in Patras. In Patras she was hosting 23 dogs left their by their owners in order to be trained. They are asked to claim their pets back.
As the volunteers pay from their own pockets for feeding the dogs, i.e. extra expenses in times of austerity and tight budgets, donations are more than welcome.
I dare publish the phone number of one of the volunteers, Thenia Vas (+30 6946 345678), so that people can contact and offer aid in form of adoptions, much needed donations or even directly donate pet food.
This is very sad and tragic news and a great loss to all of us who work for stray, abused and disturbed dogs of Greece.
I well remember the traumatized dog Jack, who refused to leave the steps of his home where his owners had been murdered. I was so pleased to here that Giu had stepped in and offered to help this dog to recover. Many people were touched to hear that not only had she successfully assisted Jack to fully recover but had adopted him herself. When Jack became the star of a video to highlight the plight of abandoned animals this woman’s true love and care shone through.
I sincerely hope that the caring people of Athens will rise to the occasion and offer her much loved dogs caring new homes.
Giu will be sorely missed.
My sincere condolences to her family.
Thank you Molly. We lost somebody real special 🙁