I wasn't quite sure where to put this next item - under the Funnies, Pets, or under General in the Thread "Will you really be happy in Crete?"  

In the end I decided that it warranted a thread of its own. It is after all a true story and I understand was actually reported in Anatoli, the local newspaper.......

A couple of weeks ago an old lady in our village discovered that her donkey had died overnight and had collapsed where it stood on the earthen floor of a room in her house. She approached one of the local villagers and asked it he could remove and dispose of the corpse. The villager replied that as the access to the room was awkward, he couldn't get a forklift truck or similar vehicle into the building and would have to employ several men to remove the carcase, lift it into a truck, transport it a short distance, dig a large hole and bury it. Accordingly the cost would be about 400 euros which the old lady declined to pay.  

Last week a British and a Greek friend of ours went to investigate the dreadful smell that seemed to be emanating from the direction of the house only to be told that the donkey had died some 12 days before and was now in a fairly advanced state of decomposition! They decided that they would have to contact the mayor to get something done about the matter and then proceeded to drive into Aghios. Whilst in Aghios, they met someone else from the village who told them that some men from the village were preparing to cover the carcass in concrete.  

On returning to the village they saw around a dozen villagers including the deputy mayor in the vicinity of the house and in attendance was a concrete vehicle and its attendant pump, the type with a huge gantry. It seems that they had filled the room to the depth of well over a foot with concrete! Being put to rest in a concrete overcoat on the M1 was a common British rumour, but in Crete it seems they really put this into practice!  

I'm told that you can no longer detect the smell!  

What a lovely story, Maurice, thank you.

I'm just wondering how the old lady gets in and out of her house now that the floor comes about a foot up her doorway!!

Margarita

Nice one Maurice,  

The concrete overcoat is an infamous story from days of old, of course, and no doubt there are many instances of that event having taken place back in the dark old days of gangland London.  

Shame about the donkey but at least it won't get under her feet.  

I wanted tp get a donkey, anyone know is they are difficult to keep and are they expensive?

If you look at the donkeysanctuary.org.uk you will find that between harriers costs, vet fees,worming,hay when there is no grazing in winter or maybe summer in Crete? a healthy donkey will probably cost another 1000 euros per year.Ken.

limnes wrote on 01. Feb 2007 at 18:57:


Good one Maurice Ken.

Jan

Why not see if you are able to adopt a donkey at the Lefkogia Sanctuary near Plakias? I expect you would be able to visit it and take it for walks without the responsibility of looking after it. Seems like a sensible option, it may also be worth seeing if there is one in the 'posh end', nearer to you

Kathleen

i know hee haw about donkeys