The request of the managers of the Paphos Animal Shelter and animal welfare organizations to give  land for its transportation, after the demolition decree, does not seem to be a practical option in the near future. This was clearly evident during today's meeting of the Municipal Council of Ierokipia, which dealt with the issue. The municipal authority considers it more appropriate to transfer the animals to other licensed shelters, which is not rejected by animal organizations.

Our primary goal with our presence today at the Municipal Council of Ierokipia, is to find carpet land for the transport of the 2000 animals of the Paphos Animal Shelter which will be demolished by court order. This was emphasized by the president of the Party for the Animals, Kyriakos Kyriakou, who attended the session.

Mr. Kyriakou stressed that he submitted a proposal that in case the finding of land is delayed, the animals of this shelter should be given to other licensed shelters so that their existence is not endangered. We also expect the Ministry of the Interior, he said, to propose specific pieces of gravel that could be made available for this purpose.

If this solution is not possible because some will be negative in accepting, then we will be forced to end up at the Presidential Palace with our animals, he concluded.

For his part, the Mayor of Ierokipia, Nikos Palios, stressed that he believes that the most timely solution that can be promoted to rescue these animals is their transfer to licensed shelters throughout Cyprus with the assistance of the state. The municipal authority, he stressed, undertakes their safe transport to these shelters, estimating that in this direction there will also be interest from business bodies and groups in the province.

The request to find a new site for the creation of the shelter that will be demolished from its existing space, Mr. Palios stressed, is not expected to be implemented immediately. He spoke of a period of many months that are required, as he said, only for the decision to be made by the state. Consider, he said, that we have examples where the state, in order to assign a property to a local authority for public interest purposes, takes six and eight months to simply make the decision. All the more so, now that land is essentially being asked to be given to a private person who will operate, in essence, a private business.

That is why our position, he concluded, is that the most suitable solution is the orderly transfer of the animals of the Paphos Shelter to other shelters throughout Cyprus.