When Animal Welfare Becomes a Destination Management Issue

A Local Issue With Tourism Implications

In Crete, the management of free-roaming and stray cats and dogs is increasingly being recognized as one of those issues.

At a 2026 animal welfare conference in Agios Nikolaos, Giannis-Marinos Gaitanakis, Head of the Ierapetra Municipal Police, spoke about the connection between animal welfare and the image of a destination. He noted that international visitors may respond quickly when they encounter neglected or abandoned animals, including by reporting what they see.

The issue is not simply about how animals are perceived. It can become part of the visitor experience, the workload of local authorities and the reputation of a destination.

Reported Concerns

According to the conference report, approximately one in every two calls received by the Ierapetra Municipal Police concerns pet-related issues.

Reported concerns include animal abandonment, newly abandoned animals appearing in rural and urban areas, and conflicts involving free-roaming animals and agricultural activity. For a tourism destination, these are more than isolated animal welfare incidents. They can reflect broader questions about community capacity, responsible ownership, enforcement, veterinary access and population management.

Visitor Perceptions and Destination Reputation

Crete has also seen growing attention to the relationship between animal welfare and visitor perceptions. A separate tourist survey conducted through the Ierapetra Municipal Police examined how visitors assess the treatment of animals and how animal welfare can influence perceptions of Greece as a destination.

The Capacity Challenge

The challenge is not simply a lack of goodwill.

Municipal authorities are expected to manage significant responsibilities relating to stray animals under Greece's animal welfare legislation, including veterinary care, spay/neuter, identification, shelter or foster arrangements, adoption and appropriate management of animals returned to their communities.

Yet local capacity can be limited. An earlier report on Ierapetra's Municipal Police described a significant staffing gap, with only three officers working locally at the time compared with a stated requirement for thirteen. This helps explain why responsibility frequently extends beyond government. Volunteers, animal welfare organisations, shelters, veterinarians and community members often become important parts of the response.

What This Means for Tourism Destinations

Crete provides an important lesson for destinations elsewhere:

Animal welfare can become a destination management issue when it intersects with community life, visitor experience and local government capacity.

Visitors do not experience a destination through its marketing materials alone. They experience its streets, beaches, neighbourhoods, restaurants and communities. What they encounter can influence what they remember, what they share and how they describe the destination to others.

This does not mean tourism businesses should be expected to solve municipal animal management. It means tourism stakeholders have a reason to understand the issue and support practical, locally appropriate solutions.

What Destinations Can Learn

• •Understand the issue locally. Reliable information can help identify where animal-related concerns are occurring and how they affect communities and visitors.
• •Connect the right partners. Municipalities, tourism organisations, animal welfare groups, veterinary professionals and community leaders often hold different pieces of the solution.
• •Prioritise prevention. Spay/neuter, responsible ownership, education, identification and enforcement can help address the causes of population growth and abandonment.
• •Consider the visitor perspective. Understanding what visitors see, report and share can provide another source of insight into destination reputation.

The CANDi Perspective

CANDi believes that creating humane tourism destinations begins with understanding what is happening within the destination itself.

The goal is not to present animal welfare as a problem for tourism to fix. It is to recognize where humane management of free-roaming and stray cats and dogs intersects with destination reputation, community wellbeing and tourism operations.

Crete demonstrates why these connections deserve greater attention. When destinations have better information, stronger partnerships and a clearer understanding of local needs, they are better positioned to move from individual responses toward coordinated, sustainable approaches.

Sources: 2026 Animal Welfare Conference, Agios Nikolaos; Ierapetra Municipal Police reports.