The last few years have been a tumultuous time in Greek politics, especially after the debt “crisis” of 2010 and the subsequent EU/IMF bailout.  Protests and riots on the streets of Athens have been a common sight on the news.

In the midst of this, some surprising folk heroes have emerged – Kanellos and Loukanikos, two stray dogs with a habit of fighting on the side of protesters.  Kanellos (Greek for “cinnamon”) is the original riot dog, famed for accompanying protesters at protests.  After a dozen years of living with students at the Polytechneio, the National Technical University of Athens and the site of the 1973 student uprising–sadly, Kanellos died in 2008.  But another stray dog Loukanikos soon appeared on the streets of Athens (mistakenly identified by The Guardian as Kanellos).  Loukanikos has his own dedicated online following, with a twitter and tumblr documenting his every move.  Amazingly, he appears unfazed by even the most violent of protests, even in the midst of thrown rocks, water canons, and tear gas.  Loukanikos shows solidarity, just as Kanellos did.

And there has been much need of it lately.  Since the imposition of the IMF measures last year, there have been 11 general strikes in Greece, regional strikes and other protests. On May 25th, the aganaktismenoi (outraged) protesters took Syntagma square opposite parliament, holding it ever since with crowds at times of up to one hundred thousand people.  These people protest the changes proposed by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, a 38 billion dollar austerity program required under Greece’s ($145 billion) bail-out package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

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