More than 20 stray dogs attacked a kitten in the buffer zone on Tuesday night, fatally injuring it, Animal Party Cyprus said in a statement. The party accused the authorities of failing to tackle packs of strays coming in from the occupied areas and the buffer zone.
Volunteers formed a human shield to protect the kitten and then took it for treatment, but it died of its injuries on Wednesday morning.
According to the statement, volunteers who phoned the police were referred to the municipalities and communities, leaving members of the public to track down the responsible service themselves at 11pm, in the middle of an emergency. The party asked how long responsibility would keep being passed from one service to another. “Must human lives be put in danger, or must we mourn children, before the state finally acts?” it asked.
The problem of stray dog packs is growing more serious and is affecting areas such as Agios Dometios, Strovolos and neighbouring communities, the party added.
It said it had already proposed that Latsia municipality buy net guns, which use special nets to trap dogs safely and without unnecessary distress, with trained staff operating them under proper procedures. The proposal was initially welcomed but has not yet been carried out, it said.
The party called on the government, the relevant ministries, local authorities and the services involved to take responsibility immediately and put in place a coordinated action plan for the safe management of dog packs, the protection of the public and animal welfare. Protecting human life and protecting animals were not opposing concepts, it argued, but a duty of a state governed by the rule of law.
It warned that volunteers and the public could not keep making up for the lack of state planning and coordination at their own personal risk.
