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
