When I traveled to Athens I couldn't help but notice all the happy stray dogs running around the city. When I asked my tour guide he informed me that rather than put them down the city neuters them and then set them free. Its someones job to feed them and its a inside joke that the dogs are "city employees"
Across the sea in Istanbul its the exact opposite, Cats rule the city. They are everywhere and entitled like divas. They sit on your table when eating at a restaurant, walk into stores, chill on monuments.
I was wondering if there was some historical basis to this.
In many Islamic cities, dogs are thought to be quite unclean and untrustworthy, or perhaps it is just that cats are preferred. There is a Hadith recording that the Prophet Muhammed awoke from his slumber to find Muezza, his favorite cat, sleeping on the sleeve of his tunic. He took the time to cut the sleeve off of his tunic so that the cat could remain asleep. In most Middle Eastern or Muslim areas, you will see many cats and probably few or no dogs.
In a place like Athens, I imagine that there are mostly dogs because they are tolerated, and they probably scare all the cats away!