Abandonment and neglect incidents of dogs have increased, shelter volunteers have told CNA, noting that they face these problems not only in the summer but all year round.
There have been some dog arrivals at the shelter this season, Monica Mitsidou, a volunteer at D.O.G RESCUE CYPRUS told CNA, but she sees in the various social media groups, where posts are made about people finding dogs or looking for lost pets, that there are dozens of cases every day.
As for abandonments, Mitsidou said that “it gets worse and worse every year.” She added that there is a large increase in stray dogs, not only from abandonments, explaining that when they go on vacation many people take their dogs to either relatives or friends or leave them in their yard and someone they know goes and feeds them, noting that in many cases, the dogs, which are experiencing a change in their daily life, escape to find their family.
She also said that the dogs are not marked with a microchip, so that the owner can be identified, and that t
here are also many uncontrolled litters since many owners refuse to neuter their dogs.
One unneutered dog is equivalent to dozens of litters, Mitsidou said, noting that, in several cases, owners react badly to prompts to neuter their pet, to the point that in some circumstances they have offered as a shelter to pay for the neutering procedure of the animal themselves.
In several cases, she said, people lose their dogs because they let them go for walks on their own.
“It’s a tragic situation,” Mitsidou said, adding that dog adoptions have dropped dramatically. “We are stacking dogs,” she said.
Asked about overseas adoptions, Mitsidou said that in the past, adoptions from the UK used to be a lifesaver for shelters, but they have declined tremendously not only because of Brexit, which led to more complicated procedures, but also because of a big increase in the cost of living in Britain and in veterinary costs. She noted that it is now very expensive for someone in the UK to own a dog, especially if the anim
al develops a health issue.
She also noted that dogs are adopted in the UK, not only from Cyprus, but also from many other countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, as well as from Asian countries.
She also referred to illegal breeding and buying and selling of dogs, including breeds which have been banned by law in Cyprus as dangerous since 2002. On that note, Mitsidou noted that these breeds should not normally exist in Cyprus, as 22 years have passed since the adoption of the relevant legislation, nevertheless they can be found everywhere today.
Mitsidou also referred to the problems animal shelters face, such as lack of resources and volunteers. She noted that many dogs taken in at shelters have health problems due to neglect by the owners, which often amounts to thousands of euro in treatment.
All the burden, she said, falls on volunteers who work at the point of collapse.
“It’s no longer a manageable problem,” she continued, adding that “it’s a joy to see them happy in homes, but that ha
s diminished unfortunately”, referring to adoptions.
According to Mitsidou, unless the law that has been under discussion for a long time on fines in connection with dog owners’ obligations is passed, nothing will change.
On her part Constantina Constantinou of Saving Pound Dogs Cyprus (SPDC) also told CNA that every year the situation is getting worse regarding dog abandonments, noting that there are also many cases of passive animal abuse through deprivation of food, water, and disregard for the welfare and safety of the animal.
She said that she recently took in three animals with health issues within three days and noted that abandonments happen not only in the summer but also after hunting season, the Christmas and Easter holidays and long weekends. “We have a tsunami of dogs,” he noted.
“The state isn’t doing anything. We’re doing it on our own, each and every one of us,” she said. She also noted that a lot of people who find animals abandoned or in poor condition ask for help on social networking s
ites or from shelters, expecting someone else to do something about it. “If not me, then who?” is the question” we need to ask ourselves, she said, adding that she understands that not everyone can have many pets in their homes, as many volunteers do, but not everyone should just expect volunteers to run to every district, in remote areas, to take in animals spotted by people.
She also noted that the relevant authorities should have places to keep stray animals, while local authorities should also let people know when they find a dog in their area, in case the owner is looking for it.
She raised the importance of the owner’s responsibility to make sure that if their pets are lost they can be traced. She cited a case of a dog they had at the shelter for six months that was tagged but the owners had changed their phone number and the tag information was not updated. The dog returned home when an acquaintance of the owners saw his picture and informed them. She noted that normally after 15 days, if the owner i
s not found, the shelter is entitled to put the dog up for adoption, but in this case she thought it was appropriate to wait because it appeared that the dog had probably not been abandoned and perhaps its family was looking for him.
According to Constantinou, there are many dogs of a certain large breed in shelters, the Malinois, which was very popular after the circulation of videos of well-trained dogs of this breed following various commands, without people who want to get one realising how much training and exercise these dogs need, so they could not handle them as they should.
In order to solve the problem of abandonment and neglect of dogs, according to Constantinou, the authorities should make a record of how many dogs there are in Cyprus, how many are registered, what conditions they live in, whether they are neutered, and take action accordingly. This might take three years, he said, but it should be done.
She also stressed the importance of educating pet owners, noting that in Switzerland those
who want to own pets are required to take courses and pass exams.
“Our aim is not to send dogs abroad, but to make all of us who own animals responsible,” she stressed.
She also said that the shelters have huge expenses every month for the supply of food, the price of which have increased, as well as vaccines, for the purchase of other goods needed for their operation, such as water, adding that contributions have been reduced due to the economic situation.
Source: Cyprus News Agency