Animal welfare group to close through lack of money

LACK OF SUPPORT from the government has forced the Paphiacos Animal Welfare to shut its doors for a month from tomorrow, with only its emergency services being unaffected.
Speaking to the Sunday Mail yesterday, a spokesman for the cash-strapped organisation said the reason behind the decision was their dire financial position.
“Put simply, we are almost out of money,” he said.

“We cannot sustain our current level of operations without either a substantial influx of donations, or alternatively, some measure of financial support from the government.”
The spokesman said the organisation had been stunned after an unannounced visit by an Agriculture Ministry official, who made it quite clear that the government no longer supported their cause.

“He said that nobody asked us to do what we were doing all these years and suggested that if we needed money we should sell the animals, which is completely illogical,” the spokesman said.

“If we are finding it difficult to find homes for the animals we have when we give them away for free, it would be ridiculous to assume we can find homes for them if we put them on sale.”
The spokesman said that the previous government had promised to provide government land to enable the organisation to build a new shelter because it was under an eviction notice. But the Agriculture Ministry official said the new government was not bound by the former government’s promises, and therefore they would not be honoured.

“We therefore had no other choice but to use this coming month as a period of reflection,” he said.

“This will enable us to discuss with our friends, supporters and advisers the future direction of our organisation. Hopefully the government will also have time to reflect and move away from their present hard line and unsympathetic stance.”