Animal abuse at forefront of Cyprus election agenda
Outrage over 9 dogs being buried alive in cages
Cyprus, Nov. 9: A public outcry over cases of horrific abuse against dogs has pushed animal rights to the forefront of the political agenda in Cyprus, three months before presidential elections.
There was outrage over the summer when nine dogs belonging to a family of hunters were burned alive in cages they were never allowed to leave.
Further anger erupted recently when a group of tourists discovered dead and emaciated dogs lying amid excrement and animal remains in enclosures near Paphos in the island’s south-west.
“They were horrified to find dead dogs, starving live dogs and dirty dark green water with living organisms swimming inside,” said the Cyprus Animal Defenders, which uploaded harrowing images from the scene on social media.
The former British colony is no newcomer to revelations of animal abuse.
For years Cypriots, following the example of their cousins in Greece, have routinely killed off unwanted cats and dogs by lacing food with a lethal cocktail of herbicides and pesticides. Vigorous opposition to neutering on the grounds that it thwarts a male’s innate right to mate has led to an exploding population of cats and dogs. local media estimate that the feline population, alone, exceeds 1.2 million.
The penchant for abandoning and killing pets has prompted holidaymakers to boycott the island in the past. In the face of local uproar, politicians who may once have regarded animal rights as beneath them, are at pains to compensate.
— Agencies