riot dogs

“Riot dog” is a term used to describe a dog (generally a street dog) who joins protests, picket lines, riots, etc. at the side of the protesters, and fiercely stands up against police repression. They often become beloved symbols of the movements they take part in, for obvious reasons. The majority of riot dogs seem to have been from Greece or Chile – here’s a list of the ones that I know of!

• Kanellos: A dog who hung out at the Technical University of Athens for many years. He became well-known more broadly from his attendance at a student occupation in 2007, but was already very elderly and passed away in 2008, after the students had fundraised to buy him a dog wheelchair and one had taken him into their home. See this old Tumblr post archived on archive.org  for more.
• Loukanikos: Another dog from Athens, Greece, who joined many anti-austerity demonstrations, strikes and picket lines between 2008–2012.
• Thodoris: Another Athenian street dog who joined many protests in the early 2010s. It’s thought he may have been one of Kanellos’ offspring.
• Negro Matapacos: A black street dog from Santiago de Chile, who was particularly a feature of student demonstrations in 2011.
• Vaquita: A dog from Antofagasta, Chile, who had to be tricked into going to the vet after he’d been shot with a fake protest, so loathe was he to leave the protesters’ side.
• Rucio Capucha: Another riot dog from Santiago de Chile. Some photos of him are attached to this tweet . Apparently  he was adopted by a family after retiring from the protest movement. See his Instagram page .
• Pepe Matapacos and Camote: Two riot dogs from Concepción, Chile, mentioned in this tweet .
• Chirimoya: A riot dog from Antiyuta, Chile. Was also adopted after retiring from protesting; see his Instagram page .