Sir,
Pet poisoning has been in the news a lot of late, thankfully, with Tamara Somoyi’s anti-lanate campaign in Trimiklini and a news special on Paphos TV. Sadly it’s a subject I know too much about already.
On the morning of my birthday party last year, I woke up full of excitement and anticipation. What I didn’t anticipate was finding my beloved cat dead in the next room, and another in the back garden, and the third two doors down in my neighbour’s – neighbours who also found their own cat dead that morning, along with two more.
We are talking heartbreak outbreak as we all discovered that our darling pets had suffered an unimaginable death in the night, which became all too imaginable two days later when another cat convulsed, screamed and died in front of us in my next door neighbour’s garden.
Lanate is a deadly poison designed to be used as a pesticide on farmed plants. Only licensed farmers should be able to get hold of it.
Unfortunately it seems fairly easy to obtain should you wish, and to use to eradicate unwanted animals from your neighbourhood.
Unfortunately, most of the animals ‘eradicated’ are far from unwanted.
These are healthy, neutered, tame animals that bear no threat to anyone and are fed by their owners, so do not go out hunting or stealing food. They are immunised so they pose no health risk, and neutered so there is no risk of increasing the feline or canine population. They also keep rats and snakes down, until they are themselves killed by rat poison.
Like my musical partner, Paul, I’m unmarried and childless and we both live continents away from our families, so Dinky, Annie, Phoenix and Leon were like children to us. Dave, our drummer, and his children, were equally attached to Floss. Finding their dead, cold, contorted bodies and knowing what they went through tears us apart and comes back to haunt us time after time.
This is not a cull of an overpopulation. This is not an eradication of a disease. These are not problem animals, these are domestic pets, for which humans have taken full responsibility for the finance and care of. These killings achieve nothing but heartache and ill feeling.
Poisoning of pets and unlicensed possession of Lanate are also highly illegal.
We have two cats remaining. They are now kept locked indoors, looking through glass windows at the sun and the garden they used to play in. They cry to be let out to roll in the sunshine and climb the trees, but we can’t take the risk any more.
These events have inspired us to perform a special concert gig to raise money for Paphiakos Animal Welfare who campaign against poisoning and other atrocities, as well as running their animal shelter and welfare facilities. The full band will perform classic party hits from the fifties to today at The Amphitheatre at Crown Resorts Hotel Coral Bay, Paphos, Cyprus – a beautiful setting with a real ancient Greek atmosphere and great pop and rock music to enjoy under the stars. We will make it an electric night to remember.
STRAY CAT STRUT will start at 8pm on Saturday 27th May and tickets – priced £5 – and almost sold out now – can be purchased from the Crown Resorts Hotel reception or by calling 99831136.
Jezebel Groove, Anavargos, Paphos
