Endangering & Exploiting Animals - Engaging in Illegal and unethical activities Experience **

[Panos30]

STARTING AN AIRBNB CONVERSATION 

TITLE:  Endangering  & Exploiting Animals - Engaging in Illegal and unethical activities Experience **

Tags:  Endangering Animals, Exploiting Animals, Illegal activity, Unethical activity, Experience

**, Acropolis Cats

This is an attempt to start an Airbnb coversation in regards to the Experience ** with the aim to provide insight concerning the controversy surrounding Experience **, and my serious objections to its activities and the reasons I believe engages in illegal, unethical and fraudulent activities in Greece. My gratitude goes to the Airbnb Community and its managers for creating this so useful forum. 

Two months ago I came to realize that one of Airbnb hosts created an AIRBNB Experience ** and started profiting from the cat colonies that Nine Lives non-profit volunteer organization provides daily care to over the last twelve years. **

The host of Experience ** demands fees of twenty (20) euro per guest, who pay these fees to patronise activities that I believe are an unequivocal and blunt violation of the Greek law 4039 of year 2012.

By exploiting the decade long work of Nine Lives organisation and its volunteers, the activities of Experience ** are in clear violation of its intellectual property rights.

Further I find this activity unethical, grossly negligent and endangering the wellbeing and very survival of those cats the host plans to interact with (one hundred cats). Last but not least, it jeopardizes the long-time cordial relationship and tolerance Nine Lives has built with nearby residents and business owners on the condition of sustaining immaculate healthy neutered/spayed cat colonies. 

Experience ** is endangering the wellbeing and very survival of those cats:

I) The daily feeding of Nine Lives colony cats is based on a network of volunteers who travel from several areas of Athens. Feeding is of utmost importance for Nine Lives core activities. It provides crucial close interaction with the cats that enables Nine Lives' volunteers to monitor the health of the cats. Several lethal (to felines) virus and diseases spread fast within colonies. The daily monitoring and detailed daily reporting from Nine Lives volunteers is key and it has even assigned code names for each one of its 500 cats around Athens to facilitate it. Nine Lives dedicates a significant amount of human and financial resources to trapping unhealthy colony cats and bringing them to the care of professional veterinarians and it does so immediately after it identifies a health issue. Experience ** with its feeding has already resulted in a material reduction of the above described interaction and hence the ability to monitor the health of the cats in focus. While Nine Lives colony cats have been always promptly appearing during our scheduled feeding times, their presence has become unpredictable. I fear the consequences will be dire.

II) Nine Lives meticulously plan the quantity of the food provided in order to ensure that the cats are fed well and at the same time that food is not left over at the grounds of the colonies. That will result in food being contaminated and will become a source of infection itself, as well as upsetting local residents and business-owners. Experience ** with its empirically proven erratic provision of food quantity leaves no option to Nine Lives volunteers but to place food on the grounds if some cats show up looking for food still underfed after an Experience **tour and “feeding”.

III) The erosion of morale and frustration caused to Nine Lives volunteers cannot be overstated. They see their efforts being jeopardised by the exploits of this host and they are losing confidence in their ability to care for the colony cats. This will undoubtedly result in the weakening of NIne Lives volunteer network. With fewer volunteers the care we can provide will be jeopardised.

Lack of Ethos

The host’s misleading claims and information in the description of Experience ** in regards to the care of the colony and the lack of any attribution to Nine Lives and its volunteers for providing all veterinary care and food for these colonies for the last decade, raise serious ethical questions for Experience **. The very names of the colony cats the hosts mentions were assigned by Nine Lives organisation for identification and health monitoring purposes. A material investment of money and time has been made in order for all of the cats that are either being mentioned or appearing in the images posted to remain healthy over the years. Any effort to profiteer from the very existence of Nine Lives colony cats and the work its volunteers have contributed to maintain those colonies over the last decade is in our opinion unethical.

Gross negligence

The hosts of  Experience ** was a volunteer of Nine Lives organisation for several years and it is my belief that in the last year showed increased participation in the feeding and transporting of colony cats to veterinarian clinics. As such the host is very well aware and in detail of all the aspects of Nine Lives activities and particularly the crucial importance of the daily monitoring and reporting about of the colony cats, and their prompt transfer to veterinarians for the good health of the cat colonies. As such, I believe that the host has designed and is promoting Experience ** very much aware of the potentially dire consequences it could have on the well-being of the colony cats. I find the host’s lack of any sense of responsibility and indifference to the well-being of the colony cats profound. 

With much appeciation for your attention and feedback,

Sincerely,

Panos 

**[Link removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines

[Ines196 · Accepted solution]

I attended this experience and after some research on the matter I left a honest comment as a review. I wrote honestly that “The lady who hosts this activity is taking advantage of the cats who have been actually taken care of by a charity organization.” That review was
deleted by airbnb as I mentioned the charity organizations name.
I am sad and disappointed that airbnb allows this activity in first place and does not even allow honest reviews on the matter.

[Panos30]

Thank you very much for the comement Mr. Ines. It is very frustrating indeed. We will not rest until the experience is suspended and the hosts compensates for the damage she is causing. 

[Cathie19]

Hi @Panos30  & @Ines196. 

If you both have specific concerns about this experience, have you separately contacted Airbnb to complain or report the “Experience” as being of conflicted interests or listed other areas of concern?

I feel quite sure that there would  be many a tour or experience across many countries on this platform or another, that through subjective opinion, may feel off centre, or be insensitive or wrong. This would not be linked to cats alone. Human nature is a strange beast of care and curiosity.

I think “Nine Lives” might be the paramount stakeholder here, for this “experience” to complain to Airbnb. Do they feel the same way or happy to have publicity?  Do they know?

[Panos30]

Hi Cathie,

Thank you veyr much for yoru reply. We have now escalated this to the highest level at Airbnb and Nine Lives has sought legal cousel. In my opinon this is a cse of an unethical host enaged in fraudalnt and ilegal activities. Airbnb has contacted us and confired that they escaleted this but in the meanwhiel they removed all the linsk leading to the expereince. We will keep you uptodate. Thahk you very much Cathie. 

[Susan17]

Excellent work, @Panos30 . I've heard about this - and other similar instances with Experiences - recently. Glad to hear you're making progress, even though it should never have been so difficult in the first place. Well done, and best of luck! 

[Panos30]

Thank you very much Susan for the enouraging and kind words. Indeed Aibnb is sticking to overprotecting protocols that have the potential to aggrevate its costumers. Thank you very much again.

[Susan17]

@Panos30 

The only way to get swift co-operation from Airbnb is to threaten them with media exposure. A situation such as this would be horrible PR for them, and that's the one thing they really don't need, and will act on. Take it to Twitter also, if necessary. You'll find the disgusting "Experience" disappears pretty quickly if they think this will become public. 

[Aris26]

I live near by and I love watching the volunteers of Ninelives Society taking care of the cats around Acropolis for many, many years now day in day out. I was shocked finding out that a lady is exploiting the non profit work of other people to her own profit. I hear also that she claims that the money go to the cats. This is a big lie. The money go to her pocket. Airbnb should remove this experience at once. It' s a shame exploiting animals like in a circus and "stealing" the work of others.

[Panos30]

Thank you very much Aris for your support and en eye withness confirmation of the situation. We will update you on our efforts as we go along. 

[Maria3369]

 AirBnB is more interested in their cut of the price than in protecting the animals. The  Experience called Cats of the Acropolis is run by a woman, Eleni, who claims to work with Nine Lives Greece and to donate some of the money to them. She does neither of these things, and is disrupting the work of the legitimate charity volunteers, and stressing the cats with her groups of tourists that distrupt the work of the legimate cat feeders.  It is shocking that AirBnB will not respond to the concerns of the legitimate Registered Charity that this woman is exploiting and using for her own profit.

[Panos30]

Hi Maria, 

Thank you very much for your comment and support. Despite the continuous efforts by the BOD of the Nine Lives organistion to find a resolution to this conflict, the host has even rejected all discussions. It is so regretfull. We have now established communicaiton with Airbnb and have provided feedback in detail of the activities of this host. We remain for their advice and feedback. In the meanwhiel wew requested for an immediate suspension of the Experience. We will keep you uptodate. 

[Maria3369]

I want to note that I misspelled the Experience leader's name. It is Erini, not Eleni.  Autocorrect on my computer just changed it again when I typed it here again.  I apologize to all the great Eleni's who are doing legitimate work with cats.

[Panos30]

Thank you very much Maria for the note and correction. We very much apprecaite it. 

[Helen3]

Hello @Panos30 

Please contact your local broadcast and print  media in Athens about this.

It is a terrible thing this woman is doing and Airbnb should not be supporting it.

I would also suggest you post publicly on their FB, Instagram and Twitter pages.

Best of luck and thanks for campaigning to have this 'experience' removed.