Year: Summer, 2004 Collateral damage: City's dogs confused, possibly dead An enormous stray dog population threatened to make Athens look bad during the Olympics, but reports ahead of the games that 15,000 dogs would be poisoned made it look even worse. A war in the press followed, with city officials claiming that rounded-up dogs would be taken to shelters and then suspiciously released where they were found after the Games, while animal groups argued that doggie death squads were on the prowl. Either way, they were tough times for our four-legged friends, who just wanted some baklava crumbs and a belly rub.