Filenews 9 August 2022 - by Despina Psyllou
Shelters for stray animals are swamped, with volunteers complaining that the situation this year is unprecedented, as they are going through their worst summer. "It's raining dogs and puppies," a volunteer told "F", clarifying that in just ten days they received 48 puppies and seven adult dogs. Another volunteer underlines that the economic crisis and the inflation that the war brought, reinforce the phenomenon of abandonment. In addition, it was noted that the lifting of the quarantine, which was imposed to manage the pandemic, removed the incentive to own a dog to those who had adopted them in order to go out for free walks.
"We are going through the worst summer we have experienced so far, in terms of dog abandonment," Andreas Tsavelas, an employee of the non-profit animal welfare company "Simba Animal Aid Cyprus", which manages the temporary detention area of stray dogs of Nicosia, Aglantzia, Strovolos, Lakatamia, Agios Dometios and Engomi, told "F". Their facilities, he said, have the capacity to accommodate 60 dogs, but at the moment they have 110, while they also take care of another 12 in other places. "The shelters are full. It is estimated that more than 3,000 are accommodated in dog shelters nationwide."
As he said, due to the economic crisis and inflation, when someone "finds it dark" and is pressured, the first thing he does is leave the dog. "We constantly receive messages and calls. We got to the point where we are afraid to answer the phone, because it will be someone who will want to hand over his dog. Every summer there was an increase in abandonments."
But this year, he said, another parameter affects them. The period of the pandemic and especially the quarantines that preceded it. "It was the reason for some people to have a dog so that they could go out of their house twice a day to take him for a walk, without having to send a message. These 'Covid dogs' are some of those that are left stray or even returned, now, to the shelters." The phenomenon, he noted, was also found in other countries, where shelters are also filled there.
It takes serious thought, Mr. Tsavelas said, to adopt a dog. "It's a commitment for 10, 15 or even 20 years. Many realize that this is not the right time for them." Causes of the problem, he said, are that anyone can turn to someone to obtain a dog, bypassing shelters. "For us, social media ads are a big problem, where someone can mate their animal uncontrollably." Another reason is that the legislation is not being applied. "There is no official record of the dogs in Cyprus and they do not carry a microchip. Female dogs and their litters are not declared, nor where puppies are donated. If we adhered to the parameters it would be very different. We wouldn't have strays and the overcrowding discussion we've been looking at for decades would be reduced."
Interested citizens can visit the shelter Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 16:00 and Saturday from 9:00 to 13:00. For adoption information they can call the 99657631.
Dog legislation in the drawer
Legislation on dogs remains pending since 2016. As the president of the Movement of Ecologists, Charalambos Theopemptou, noted in "F", this law was passed in 2012, but four years later it was returned to the Parliament for discussion. In the end, it reached the competent Committee of the House three times, but any change was shelved and nothing has changed since then.
At the same time, Mr. Theopemptou stressed, no other legislation that was passed is applied. Like the one that regulates the animals that a person can have as a pet. "The state did not campaign to inform people and comply. We were waiting, at last, for there to be a check and we didn't see that." The same, he said, happened for the cases when someone breeds animals. "You can't trade from home."
