A riot dog is a

stray dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of wh ...

that accompanies

street protester A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...

s. The term originated during the

2008 Greek riots The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer in Exarcheia district of central Athens. The killing of the young student by police resulted in larg ...

when a number of stray dogs remained among the protesters even when violent

rioting A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

broke out."Riot Dog fans"
News.com, Australia, 11 May 2010 A few riot dogs have acquired a large following of fans around the world such as the Greek Loukanikos"Amid the turmoil of the Greece financial crisis, photos and videos of street protests have turned up a kind of canine "

Where's Waldo ''Where's Wally?'' (called ''Where's Waldo?'' in North America) is a series of children's puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens ...

" figure: a mutt that....clearly has a strong interest in civic disorder": Fro
"Mysterious 'Rebel Dog' of Greek riots becoming latest Web icon"
by Brett Dykes, ''Yahoo News'', 7 May 2010 and Negro Matapacos in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

In Greece

Loukanikos

Loukanikos (: the sausage

loukaniko Loukaniko (Greek: λουκάνικο) is a type of Greek sausage made from pork or lamb and typically flavored with orange peel, fennel seed, and various other dried herbs and seeds, and sometimes smoked over aromatic woods. They are also ofte ...

) or more commonly Louk (), sometimes confused by the media for Kanellos,"Loukanikos, the Greek anarchist dog"
LibCom, 8 May 2010 was present at nearly every protest in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

up until 2012. This stray has ostensibly become the symbol of Greek protests against the

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

- and ECB-prompted

austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...

measures. There was uncertainty about the claim that Loukanikos and Thodoris may, in fact, be the same dog"Kanellos and Thodoris Loukanikos"
by 'Karlo Krystaller', ''Black Capitalism'', 25 December 2011 (in Greek) however this was later confirmed false after Loukanikos died. In September 2011, on the occasion of a striking policemen's union marching in the centre of Athens, Loukanikos, according to eyewitnesses, was "initially confused" between two opposite sides both of uniformed policemen but, when the riot police contingent attacked their striking colleagues, the dog sided with "those who were being attacked." Loukanikos' health was "severely burdened" by the inhaling of

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

and other chemicals during the many riots in which he participated"Ena Adio Ston Loukaniko"
("A Goodbye to Loukanikos"), '' Avgi'', 9 October 2014 (in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

) but lived until approximately ten years of age, dying peacefully in 2014 at the home of a person who cared for him.

Kanellos

Kanellos (: cinnamon), a distinct blond, male, mixed-breed canine,"Kanellos the Greek protest dog makes another appearance"
''

WINK-TV WINK-TV (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for Southwest Florida. It is owned by the McBride family and their Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, making it one of a hand ...

'',

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate, 7 May 2010 was arguably the first incarnation of the Greek Riot Dog. His maiden appearance was in photographs taken at a general assembly of students in the occupied

National Technical University of Athens The National (Metsovian) Technical University of Athens (NTUA; , ''National Metsovian Polytechnic''), sometimes known as Athens Polytechnic, a university in Athens, Greece. It is named in honor of its benefactors Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tosi ...

. Kanellos became famous in the

, when Greek photographers and cameramen started to notice a dog that kept appearing in their footage. The stray seemed to always walk amongst and side with the protesters."The hound always seems to side with the protesters, whatever the dispute." Fro
"Kanellos the Greek protest dog"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 6 May 2010 According to reports by witnesses, Kanellos, in his final years, suffered from

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

, which motivated a group of college students to collect money and purchase him a dog's

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

. This allowed him to live indoors, among the students, until he died."OK! let’s clear this out"
RebelDog website

Thodoris

Thodoris () is a Kanellos look-alike, believed to be one of Kanellos' pups. Thodoris is a light golden-colored, mixed breed dog, who, despite being a stray, has seemingly been provided with all the necessary medical shots, as evidenced by his blue collar.
, by Paul Katie, ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', May 2010

In Chile

, during the 2011–2013 Chilean student protests, a stray dog accompanied student protestors. Protesters named him " Negro Matapacos" (from Spanish ''matar'', to kill, and ''paco'', which is Chilean slang for "policeman"; his full nickname therefore translates to "Black Cop-killer"), or refer to him simply as "El Negro". Matapacos died on 26 August 2017 of old age with a veterinarian and other people by his side. During the

2019 Chilean protests Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, the image of Negro Matapacos acquired notoriety again, and protesters drew inspiration from him during street demonstrations, appearing on various posters, stickers, murals and papier-mâché sculptures. Some people also requested that a statue of the dog be installed in a public place.

References

External links

Kanellos , Facebook

Louk , FacebookLoukanikos , Facebook"The Greek protest dog"
picture gallery in ''

Video footage

"Sausage, the riot dog of Greece"

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

report
"Greece's front-line riot dog"
BBC News
"Riot dog stands his ground as Greek firefighters protest in Central Athens-March 26, 2009"
independent media {{DEFAULTSORT:Riot Dog Dogs Political activism Political movements in Greece Animals in politics