Filenews 3 January 2025
Within the first half of 2025, the licensing of the first regional dog shelter, that of Nicosia Municipalities, is expected, said Commissioner for Environment and Animal Welfare, Antonia Theodosiou.
Asked by CNA, Theodosiou said that the intention to create regional shelters or temporary storage areas managed by the local government and licensed had been announced in 2019, with a time limit of 18 months that expired without any result, and that in 2022 a new decision was taken, accompanied by a €1.5 million aid plan for the creation of five regional local government shelters, for provinces and one for hilly areas.
By the end of 2024, the target has not been achieved, he noted, "and as the Office of the Commissioner for the Environment and Animal Welfare, among others, we have set out to help and strengthen the effort to create at least the Nicosia Municipalities shelter" covering Nicosia, Strovolos, Lakatamia, Agios Dometios, Engomi, Aglantzia. "This is already underway, it is at five o'clock to get its permit, because it has to have planning permission and building permit," he explained. He added that he believes that becoming licensed regional shelters of the Local Government "will help 1000% in the proper management of stray dogs".
"All attempts stumble somewhere"
"We have set a goal to accelerate the licensing of at least one shelter a year," he said, adding that, alongside that of Nicosia, they are also looking at what is happening in other districts. She noted that, on her own initiative, an expanded meeting was held with the relevant departments and the local government "to see how we can coordinate to make the licensing of at least six shelters a reality."
"Attempts have been made, but they are all stumbling somewhere," the Commissioner said, noting that the effort is, among other things, to keep these shelters away from residential zones so that there is no nuisance.
Theodosiou also said that for 2024, as far as she knows, no shelter was licensed.
The Commissioner also referred to the issue of animal euthanasia, noting that it was "hotly debated" in Parliament. "It's something that, from what I understand, the vast majority, if not all animal welfare organizations are against. We, as Commissioner's Office, are against, but at the same time, we need to find a solution to the plethora of stray dogs."
