MYSTERY surrounding a stolen Black and Tan Coonhound deepened yesterday when an animal rights activist said a young male dog of the same breed turned up out of the blue at her home outside Limassol on Sunday.
Pat Kyriacou, who heads Animal Responsibility Cyprus, said the dog, which looks around one year old, was just standing there alongside her own dog, wagging its tail when she got home.
The sudden appearance of yet another Coonhound adds to the mystery of the disappearance of the rare and valuable breed of dog from its Nicosia owner three years ago.
Andros Nicolaou from Tseri said his pedigree Coonhound, imported from Canada and worth £2,500, was taken from its kennels in 2004. It was the only Coonhound registered in Cyprus.
Nicolaou related his story after seeing an article about a stray Coonhound puppy which turned up in Paphos last summer and was adopted by a woman who took it back to the UK, where it is the only dog of that breed in the entire country.
He believes the puppy may be the offspring of his prize-winning stolen dog, which was the only one of its kind registered in all of Europe.
Now a second Coonhound has appeared, which Kyriacou believes may also be the litter-mate of Ashley, the puppy that was taken back to Britain.
Kyriacou, who lives in a rural area seven kilometres outside Limassol, said she had read about Nicolaou’s story in the Sunday Mail. “Then this Coonhound pops up out of the blue,” she said referring to the new appearance of the rare breed. “He was standing there alongside my own dog wagging his tail”.
Kyriacou said the dog looked around a year old, was very healthy with a glowing coat. “He had obviously been without food for a few days,” she said.
She also said he was not old enough to be Nicolaou’s stolen dog and because of yesterday’s bank holiday was unable to take him to a vet to check whether he was microchipped or not. “I’d love to keep him but we can’t,” she added.
Kyriacou said she would contact Nicolaou since it seemed likely the young dog was the offspring of his Coonhound, and that he might like to have the dog.
Nicolaou was yesterday surprised to hear that a Coonhound had suddenly surfaced in Limassol and would talk to Kyriacou about it, he said.
The Coonhound is a very old breed of dog originating in the 17th century.
The breed’s genes are very strong, meaning that even if a Coonhound mates with a different breed of dog, the offspring in 95 per cent of cases will still be a pure Coonhound, albeit it without pedigree.
Native Indians in Canada describe the breed as the ultimate hunting dog due to its sense of smell, power, agility, endurance and alertness.
Nicolaou’s uncle was first to bring a Coonhound to Cyprus but it wandered off after his uncle drowned off Dhekelia. Five years later, Nicolaou imported his own Coonhound, the one that was stolen three years ago. He had had the dog for seven years.
