"THE ANIMALS ARE NOT TO BLAME'' - PROTESTERS DEMAND SOLUTIONS INSTEAD OF A LOCKDOWN AT MELIOS ZOO - Filenews 15/4 by Theodora Nikolaou
A protest event took place on Wednesday afternoon at the Melios Zoo Park in Agioi Trimithia, with the participation of citizens who react to the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court to close the operation of the site. The mobilization was organized after the rejection of the appeal of businessman Menelaos Menelaou, as a result of which a previous decision of the Administrative Court remained in force. The protesters demanded solutions instead of lockdowns, stressing with slogans that "the animals are not to blame".
During the event, dozens of signatures were collected, while the participants headed to the Presidential Palace, with the aim of handing over a memorandum to the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides, asking for an intervention to prevent the zoo from closing.
On behalf of the party "Active Citizens - Movement of United Cypriot Hunters", Nikolas Prodromou, described the court's decision as absurd. For many years the system has been fighting Mr. Melios, he said, adding that all the competent bodies of the state such as the Veterinary Services, ministries, etc. are involved in this system. He stressed to the attendees that "the real truth is that one day the Police may go and put a lock on the area, but we must react and answer that it is not since they are not talking about animal welfare, they are just using a feud that broke out between Mr. Melios and the Veterinary Services, Then we will not be silent." Finally, he said that with a relevant memorandum they call on the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, to find ways to overturn the court's decision.
In turn, Mr. Menelaou stressed that his space has been operating for the world for 26 years. "The animals have all been imported legally. They are all farmed, I do not have and have never owned any wild animals, except for the three eagles given to me by the state. Animals are all thriving. The Veterinary Clinic says so," he continued.
Furthermore, he explained that the controversy concerns the personal interests of specific state officials. "They committed crimes. The Veterinary Clinic and Thira were convicted for actions they did. I got a lot of money, but the point was to punish it. They have remained unpunished to this day, they have been promoted. The Attorney General, the Chief of Police, and even the President of the Republic are aware of this. Our demand is to investigate the complaints they have in front of them and the court decisions. I can prove everything with documents and not with words," he concluded, while talking about expediency.
Representing the Green party of Cyprus, Maria Theodosiadou said that "it is absurd since the animals have been legally imported to close a zoo and there is no management plan for the animals themselves. The first concern of the state should be the welfare of animals. Since there are zoos in Cyprus, we are not discussing their closure. These are animals that were in zoos and have been imported to Cyprus, they are not wild animals and if you leave them free in the wild they will die, they will not survive. So they can't come and make a decision that doesn't include any plan for animal welfare."
In his statements to Filenews, Mr. Menelaou stressed that his farm remains in operation normally with the hours that were in force as before the court's decision.
