Filenews 7 Septembmer 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
Cats are known to be active in parts of their feeding areas. According to the interpretation given by the Legal Service, stray cats are fed only at predetermined points by municipalities for public health reasons. At present, very few municipalities have taken on the responsibility of creating feeding stray cats and therefore the onus is on volunteers.
Volunteers who create feeding and protection spaces, proceed to sterilizations and provide medical care, keeping their population at some acceptable levels. They warn that if they stop doing all this, parks will be filled with cats, the gates of apartment buildings, school yards, hospital yards, public buildings, camps, they will enter through windows into houses to find food, in canteens, in car engines, they will shuffle garbage bins and worst of all, the streets will be filled with dead cats.
The Federation of Animal Welfare Organisations of Cyprus, Voice for the Animals of Cyprus, addressed the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment on the occasion of the actions announced by the Ministry as of January 2023 in relation to the opinion of the Legal Service.
According to the president of the Voice for the Animals, Mary Chrysochou-Anastasis, in Cyprus, as it is widely known, there is a fairly large number of stray cats, which are fed mainly by volunteer animal lovers, but also citizens who care about their welfare. These cats usually create colonies, many of which volunteer animal lovers take care of, while neutering cats in these colonies in such a way that their population does not increase.
Although in January 2023, the Voice welcomed the clarification by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment on the feeding of stray cats, unfortunately it was subsequently found that after a series of actions on the part of the Police in order to obtain an opinion from the Attorney General on the destruction of feeding areas for stray cats, the Police itself, as one of the competent Authorities to control the implementation of the Protection and Welfare of Animals Law, proceeded to the decision not to investigate complaints of destruction of feeding places for cats that were not designated or do not belong to the Local Government. As a result, animals are left hungry and citizens are arguing about what this entails. This fact for all volunteer animal lovers, organized or not, is really very disappointing.
Furthermore, the Voice considers that the Veterinary Services, as the competent Authority for Animal Welfare and Protection, as soon as it received the letter from the Police (instead of an internal directive) should immediately contact it to withdraw it since it did not ensure the welfare of the animals and was contrary to the spirit of the Law. On the contrary, this would make the situation worse, according to Anastasis.
According to complaints from animal welfare organizations, citizens who dislike animals have already in many cases proceeded to destroy feeding and drinking places for cats, with the Police remaining indifferent and in some cases making recommendations for the abolition of feeding places for stray cats, without considering the subsequent consequences for the animals and ensuring their welfare.
"Unfortunately, after more than 19 (29/1/2023) months after your announcement, we understand that your Ministry has not yet come to an understanding with the General Prosecutor's Office to resolve the problem, resulting in the Police Authorities following the opinion of the Attorney General's Office. We do not understand how an opinion changes the law and even goes against the same spirit of the Law, namely against animal welfare!" 26/8/2024 to Minister Maria Panayiotou.
The animal welfare organizations, monitoring the non-resolution of the problem, call on the competent Minister to consult with all competent authorities to withdraw the erroneous in their opinion, as well as the directive of the Veterinary Services.
"In conclusion, should the Ministries of Interior, Justice and Agriculture ask themselves what the ultimate goal is? Should citizens leave animals hungry and thirsty? Unless the Local Authorities create animal feeding areas in every corner of Cyprus, a fact that has not been implemented so far and does not seem to be implemented in the future either. Apart from a few local authorities (in cooperation with animal welfare organizations), most are indifferent. The cost of food, which amounts to thousands of euros every year, is borne by animal loving citizens. Along with the sterilization of cats, as the amount of €100,000 allocated by the state for sterilization of stray cats, is a drop in the ocean and a solution to the problem has not yet been found. If anything, let us be human beings in this country so that the stigma that we are a barbaric people can finally be removed. And now with the law!", says Mrs. Anastasis.
Animal welfare organisations call for clarification of legislation
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment on 29/1/2023 in an announcement stressed that the State's policy on animal welfare is based on the five internationally recognized basic freedoms of animals:
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst.
2. Freedom from unnecessary suffering and strain.
3. Freedom from injury, pain and illness.
4. Freedom from fear and anguish.
5. Freedom to express normal behaviour, with appropriate living conditions.
In this context, he noted, and taking into account the welfare of stray animals, the Ministry does not support in any way the destruction or removal of containers placed for feeding stray animals. According to the Ministry, the problem created by the overpopulation of cats in specific areas is not solved by depriving animals of food, but by implementing comprehensive sterilization programs. To this end, he explained, the Ministry, through the Veterinary Services, implements a Pancyprian Neutering Plan for stray cats, in cooperation with Municipalities, Community Councils and animal welfare organizations. "The Ministry recognizes the work of animal loving volunteers, who work daily at significant cost for themselves, for the protection of animals in our country, and calls on all actors to approach the issue in a spirit of cooperation, in the interest of animals and by extension of all citizens of our country," the January 2023 announcement said, noting that the Ministry will consult with the Legal Service for full clarification of the issue.
