A British family have spoken of "staring death in the face" after they were attacked by pack of wild dogs while climbing a mountain in Greece.
Stamatis Kapetanios, 52, had taken his son Danny, niece Roxy and nephew Teddy on a hike up a dormant volcano located to the west of Athens when they suffered injuries from a ferocious group of fifteen Rhodesian ridgebacks.
He had been walking around 30 metres ahead of the rest of the family on a signposted path up the mountain when he suddenly became surrounded by stray dogs, who appeared aggressive and quickly leapt towards him.
The dogs then knocked him to the ground began relentlessly mauling him with their teeth, tearing off part of his ear and causing him to lose the use of his left hand due to nerve damage.
Describing his feelings during the height of the grisly attack to the MailOnline, Stamis said: “I thought I was going to die."
“I kept asking myself: 'How can this possibly be the end?' I was losing the will to live. I felt I didn't have any power.”
But he credits his fatherly instincts as helping him fight back while armed with just two water bottles and his backpack, saying that when he saw his children behind him it "filled me with a reason to keep going," which he likened to a "divine power.”
The dogs darted over to the rest of the family, causing two of the kids to be receive bite injuries on their legs.
Suzie, mum to Roxy, said the children all "looked death in the face" as the feral animals attacked, adding that she still felt scared to this day.
Stamatis has now called on the Greek government to take more action on stray dogs, which he likened to an "epidemic" in the country.
Suzie meanwhile said she feared that someone could end up losing their life unless the dogs are removed from the site of the attack.
Diane Chapman, of Greek Animal Rescue, told the BBC that while Greece has "some really good laws" on dealing with feral dog populations, these were not being properly implemented by the relevant authorities.
Animal rights activists estimated in 2020 that the city of Athens alone may be home to as many as two million street cats and dogs.
