He was the dog who defied Greek riot police…but now he is no more.<br /><br />Sausage, the ginger mongrel who became famous for appearing in anti-austerity protests and barking at men in uniform at the height of Greece’s debt crisis, has died of a heart attack.<br /><br />The valiant stray became a media sensation by regularly showing up at the side of demonstrators amid the chaos of teargas and flying petrol bombs.<br /><br />Called “Loukanikos” in Greek, he was named runner up for Time Magazine’s “Animal of the Year” in 2011 – only beaten to the top spot by the army dog that accompanied the US Navy SEAL team which took down Osama Bin Laden.<br /><br />“He was Greek. Like all stray animals, Loukanikos somehow reflected the restlessness of Greeks who refuse to bow down,” Anna Makri, a veterinarian who heads the stray animal service in Athens, told Reuters.<br /><br />Taken in by an animal welfare group two years ago, Sausage actually died in May.<br /><br />But only now has the passing of this activist who stood up to authority on all four legs finally been announced.<br /><br />The leftist Avgi newspaper said that he had been buried under a tree on a hill in the city centre.
