legendary dog demonstrator dies

He was asleep on the couch when his heart finally gave its last beat and he left this vale of tears.

And for Loukanikos it was literally a life of tears, as he was there at every demonstration on Syntagma square. Riot police knew him as Loukanikos, as did most protesters and journalists, but for those that knew him well knew his real name: Thodoros.

The man that took care of him, and “taught” him the art of demonstration noted the peaceful passing of this most revolutionary of dogs that left this world peacefully, as befitted such a noble being.

Loukanikos had achieved stardom, with major media like the BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera, devoting features to the Greek demo dog, while a song was written for him, and TIME magazine even put him on their list of 100 noted personalities for 2011.

He was ten years old, and perhaps his health had been impaired by all the tear gas, pepper spray, and stun grenades he underwent throughout the years. Perhaps the fact that nowadays things have calmed down and protesters are far fewer and far between.

In any Terms, Loukanikos – Thodoros has left us, perhaps a little sad not having seen Greece emerge from the mire of its crisis.