Filenews 26 November 2020
An open letter to all parliamentary parties on the Animal Welfare Act, which will be debated today in the plenary session of the House, sent the Animal Party asking to vote correctly and fairly.
This is the announcement:
On Thursday 26/11/2020 and at 4 p.m. in the plenary session of the HOUSE, the first topic to be discussed will be 'The Animal Protection and Welfare (Amendment) Act 2019'
The Cyprus Animal Party participated together with all animal welfare organisations, rescue workers, volunteers and organised groups in the consultations and meetings of the parliament's environment committee. Seven (7) perhaps more years we have been debating this legislation and tabled our views, suggestions and proposals, spent thousands of hours, effort and toil and at a financial personal cost.
Finally we see (and after information) that the final text that will go to plenary has distortions, has amendments and amendments on issues already agreed with all the members of the Committee on the Environment. It is with great sadness, disappointment and anger that we see that you ignored US ALL and threw in the bin almost everything we agreed.
The Cyprus Animal Party calls for the agreed ones to be adopted and voted on, and some of them are:
- We asked for the non-deprivation of food and water from abandoned animals. We immediately call for it to be removed - deleted or perhaps guided amendment (addition) of the Municipalities and Communities, which call for food to be carried out in specific places.
- We all agreed that the Chairman of the Provincial Animal Welfare Committee would be elected by all members of the committee and would not be appointed by the Director of Veterinary Services. Why did they change that again? What are the purposes? We call for this to be brought back to its former state, that is to say, for the Chairman to be elected by the members of the Committee.
- We call for the mandate of all members of the provincial committees (and the Pancyprian Coordinating Committee) to be extended without restrictions. We consider that excluding from this arrangement the mandate of representatives of animal welfare organisations to be ONLY for one term is both provocative and morally unacceptable. We call for the text and what has been agreed to come back because we do not want the civil servants of the veterinary services to be established.
- With regard to animal seizures, we consider that the suggestions of all of us are, as in cases of relationships, that animals be given for adoption (when the necessary adoption procedures are carried out, etc.). This is because an animal confiscated, (a) the State does not have the appropriate licensed premises to accommodate (if presumed) and (b) the fate of the animal or animals in terms of its welfare, health and welfare will be in doubt if the trial can last from two to three years.
- The Cyprus Animal Party has been against keeping animals in cages from the outset. This is the prevailing situation, with dogs living 24 hours in their own faeces, without water or food, in the sun or cold and without protection. Our proposal has been for at least two years and we expect it to be adopted.
Gentlemen of the political parties, ladies and gentlemen. We call on you, as at Thursday's plenary session of 26/11/2020, to finally think soberly. Think we're talking about innocent animals, defenceless, without a voice, and we all have the power to protect them. We hope that reason, wisdom and not any other interests will prevail. Otherwise 'whatever you sow will reap' and the parliamentarians are not too far away.
Source: eyenews
