Filenews 26 January 2026 - by Despina Psyllou
The Human Rights Committee seeks to secure the right of people with disabilities to have an assistance dog and to have access to all public and private spaces as well as to means of transport, through law proposals submitted separately by MPs Christos Senekis and Charalambos Theopemptou.
This legislative gap seems to have tripped, at least for people with visual impairments in Cyprus, as out of the approximately 2,000 blind people living in our country, only five or fewer people have such a dog. Any obstruction of the disabled from entering any area with an assistance dog, provides, according to the proposal that Mr. Theopemptou is expected to submit, a fine of €4,000 for the offender and/or €8,000 in case of repetition.
The issues for assistance dogs in terms of the welfare and training of the animals themselves, any out-of-court fines for those who break the law and other regulations, are expected to be regulated by the proposal on Assistance Dogs Law, which will be submitted soon by MP Charalambos Theopemptou.
More than 2.000 people with visual impairments live in Cyprus, who could potentially have an assistance dog with them, said the president of KYSOA, Themis Anthopoulou, indicating that only 5 people currently have an assistance dog, as there was no regulation and registration.
''Assistance dogs are the eyes of people with visual impairments. If there are no penalties, this regulation will be a free gift," he said and also added that the cost for the assistance dog is quite high at the same time that people with disabilities are financially vulnerable.
On behalf of the Apostolos Varnavas School for the Blind, Pelagia Karpasiti noted that "we only have in mind one person with an assistance dog and this is from the Netherlands and not from Cyprus". The cost of education, which amounts to €50,000 and is offered only in Greece and/or other countries abroad, must also be examined, he pointed out.
The attention of the MPs is drawn on behalf of the Legal Service, by Alexis Antoniadis, who underlined that it is not enough to vote for a proposal that enshrines this right. "In order to be implemented, a holistic framework for assistance dogs is needed. This proposal must be passed and can be implemented," he underlined.
The proposal for a law that enshrines the right of people with disabilities to assistance dogs is supported by the Ministry of Education, Agriculture, Labour and Health as well as the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare. In addition, the Police is also positive about the regulation.
On behalf of the Ministry of Transport, it was noted that bus transport is free for the disabled and that there is a directive for assistance dogs to enter the buses.
