{"id":23013,"date":"2021-12-08T00:33:17","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T08:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.happycow.net\/blog\/?p=23013"},"modified":"2022-01-02T22:44:22","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T06:44:22","slug":"happy-cow-elisabeth-dimitras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.happycow.net\/blog\/happy-cow-elisabeth-dimitras\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambassador Spotlight: Elisabeth Dimitras"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The Happy Cowmunity boasts over 540 city ambassadors around the world! From London to Bangkok and everywhere in between, our stellar HappyCow ambassadors know the best vegan eats in town. This month, we\u2019re spotlighting Elisabeth Dimitras from Chalkida, Evia, Greece. Dimitras is a true caregiver to both human and non-human animals\u2014she is someone we look up to during this season of giving. We are honored to share her story and hope it motivates others to volunteer their time and skills to those in need this holiday and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lightbulb moment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like so many, Dimitras grew up loving and eating animals. She told us that she was always rescuing stray dogs and cats as a child, and as she got older, she\u2019d crowdfund to pay for injured animals\u2019 operations. All the while, she didn\u2019t make the connection between the animals on her plate and the animals she helped to rescue and rehome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After attending university for mathematics and realizing her true calling wasn\u2019t as a mathematician, but as an animal caregiver, she made a hard pivot and started volunteering at a zoo. While she shuns zoos now for their exploitation of animals, she informed us, \u201cBack then I was blind enough to think that zoos are needed for biodiversity conservation. After some months over there, I realized that it’s just an industry making profit out of animal exploitation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimitras moved on to volunteering in wildlife conservation centers, working with marine turtles, seals, and birds. She obtained a masters in Biodiversity Conservation and moved on to Holland to become an animal caretaker for primates and small mammals through the European Volunteer Service. She told us it was a \u201clife-changing experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the while, Dimitras changed her diet thanks to an eye-opening realization first brought on by the disturbing documentary Earthlings<\/em>, followed by Forks Over Knives <\/em>and Cowspiracy <\/em>a few years later. She vowed to go vegetarian within the first twenty minutes of Earthings<\/em>, and she became fully vegan by 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI needed to watch shocking documentaries in order to make the connection, to educate myself, and to learn the truth that is very well hidden by the animal agriculture industry,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The giving spirit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dimitras has dedicated her life to caring for non-human animals. Following the experience in Holland, she volunteered at a farm sanctuary in Madrid and most recently at Donkeysland<\/a>\u2014a sanctuary in Koropi, Greece. Her ultimate goal is to run a self-sustaining microsanctuary on the land she recently purchased and live off the grid. This isn\u2019t just a pipedream\u2014she\u2019s planned it out and knows what to do to make it happen. Dimitras is looking into permaculture courses, seeking advice from experts on the subject of sustainability, and working an emergency evacuation plan in case of a wildfire. Dimitras\u2019 sanctuary will be private and not open to the public. \u201cI believe that rescued animals should be living their lives unbothered by humans,\u201d she advocated. \u201cVisitors tend to not know nor respect the boundaries, so they end up stressing the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about her volunteer work, Dimitras explained, \u201cNon-human animals are amazing. They are giving us so many lessons and the most important is how to be present. Observing them is meditative. Also, my mental health issues are getting better while being in contact with these magnificent souls. I forget the ugliness of the world\u2014how wrong everything is around me\u2014and I enjoy the purity of the moment. We think that we rescue them, but the truth is, they rescue us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to give back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As much peace as Dimitras gets from helping others, she doesn\u2019t sugar coat the effort. \u201cLet’s be honest though, this volunteer job is basically cleaning shit and a very hard job. You need to really love them in order to do it. It’s not a walk in the forest.\u201d She makes it clear that caring for non-human animals is a commitment, but she also hopes more people would volunteer their time. It\u2019s so needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While farm and wildlife sanctuaries exist all over the world, there are other ways to get involved for those who can\u2019t easily access these operations. Those who live in urban centers can look for other opportunities that propel the vegan message, such as Food Not Bombs<\/a> chapters or other organizations that provide vegan meals to those in need. Dimitras personally volunteers for Genesis Hellas<\/a>\u2014a humanitarian NGO in Greece that prepares vegan food to deliver to the homeless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can follow Elisabeth’s activism on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>, or directly by visiting her website Ethos & Empathy.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimitras\u2019 picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How she uses HappyCow:<\/strong> I explore the world via HappyCow. I first see where I can get myself nice vegan food and based on that, I arrange my travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Must-visit restaurant in Chalkida: <\/strong>Demetra<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s on her vegan wishlist: <\/strong>An ethically and sustainably made vegan leather jacket<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food she can\u2019t stop eating: <\/strong>Peace by Peas Tempeh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elisabeth<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Happy Cowmunity boasts over 540 city ambassadors around the world! From London to Bangkok and everywhere in between, our stellar HappyCow ambassadors know the best vegan eats in town. This month, we\u2019re spotlighting Elisabeth Dimitras from Chalkida, Evia, Greece. Dimitras is a true caregiver to both human and non-human animals\u2014she is someone we look up to during this season of giving. We are honored to share her story and hope it motivates others to volunteer their time and skills to those in need this holiday and beyond.  The lightbulb moment Like so many, Dimitras grew up loving and eating animals. She told us that she was always rescuing stray dogs and cats as a child, and as she got older, she\u2019d crowdfund to pay for injured animals\u2019 operations. All the while, she didn\u2019t make the connection between the animals on her plate and the animals she helped to rescue and rehome.  After attending university for mathematics and realizing her true calling wasn\u2019t as a mathematician, but as an animal caregiver, she made a hard pivot and started volunteering at a zoo. While she shuns zoos now for their exploitation of animals, she informed us, \u201cBack then I was blind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7417,"featured_media":23017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nAmbassador Spotlight: Elisabeth Dimitras - HappyCow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"HappyCow Ambassador Elisabeth Dimitras shares the best vegan eats in Greece\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.happycow.net\/blog\/happy-cow-elisabeth-dimitras\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ambassador Spotlight: Elisabeth Dimitras - 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