FROM CATS TO RHINOS, GREEK CRISIS TAKES TOLL ON ANIMALS

ATHEN, Greece - Hundreds of cats are loose on the streets, and food is running low for some residents of Athens' zoo. It isn't just humans who are suffering as Greece tries to claw its way out of economic crisis.

"I'll have to call the bank again," sighed Jean-Jacques Lesueur, the founder of Athens' only zoo.

The Frenchman had been trying for days to place a 6,000 euro ($6,600) order of frozen fish for the zoo's six dolphins. Without fresh supplies from abroad, he feared he would have to put them on a diet.

Normally the order would be simple enough, but Greece imposed strict capital controls on June 29 as panicked account holders began emptying the nation's banks.

The measures have stopped the flight of cash from the debt-crippled country but in doing so have made life extremely difficult for Greek firms that do business abroad.

All bill payments to foreign countries must be approved by a government commission, a process that is proving so slow that distrustful suppliers are now asking Greek firms to pay in advance.

Lesueur, who is in his seventies, finally managed to get the dolphin food payment approved late Thursday. 
But he's still unable to pay for a shipment of meal worms, beloved of the zoo's two giant anteaters, and nutritional supplements for the rhinos. 
The zoo feeds most of its animals with local meat and vegetables, but it also spends some 80,000 euros (S$120,000) a year.

The zoo feeds most of its animals with local meat and vegetables, but it also spends some 80,000 euros (S$120,000) a year on imported food for its more fussy residents. - See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/world/cats-rhinos-greek-crisis-takes-toll-animals#sthash.VxLVdW5m.dpuf

Source: AFP(yahoo)