IMAGINE spending all your savings on moving abroad to your favourite holiday spot, only to be harassed by your local community to the point of despair.
This happened to Pauline Lyne-Maries, 59, when health problems drew her to a warmer climate. After years of holidaying in Ayia Napa and Protaras, Pauline decided to leave England for Cyprus, where she could start the next chapter of her life.
She decided to live in the little village of Liopetri, a stone’s throw from busy Ayia Napa – a town visited by thousands of British every year.
Little did she know her life would turn into such a nightmare that she would have been better off staying put.
The behaviour of some of the villagers towards Pauline and a small number of other Britons who set up home in the area can only be described as abusive and racist.
She has had dead rats placed on her doormat, a brick thrown at her window and was once indecently assaulted in her own kitchen.
In the few years she has lived in Liopetri, she has had 12 dogs dumped in her back yard, two of whom were delivered by the police, who didn’t know what else to do with the strays.
Many of these dogs were in terrible condition – some have had their teeth kicked in, others were covered from head to toe with tics and others were so skeletal they were just a step away from death’s door.
Being an avid dog lover, Pauline has yet to refuse one. Out of the goodness of her own heart, she feeds and cares for these animals with the help of a local vet.
But now her neighbours and community council are using the dogs as an excuse to oust her from the village.
Saying her home is dirty and the dogs boisterous and noisy, the village council is now demanding she pays for full licences for all 12 dogs, despite efforts by Animal Welfare Organisation Argos to have the fee reduced.
With just a monthly cheque of benefits to get by, this is proving hard for Pauline.
She is also distressed that she is the only dog owner in the village who is being so vehemently harassed over the issue.
An investigation by Argos’ president Stella Stylianou around Liopetri proved that six out of 10 dog owners did not have licences and had not received notification over it.
So why is this one woman being persecuted with such venom?
Pauline is adamant she will not leave her home. “Why should I?” she asked.
She is also only too keen to point out that not all villagers have behaved in this manner, just a small section.
“English Bitch”, is just one of the names Pauline gets called when she walks out of her door by a female neighbour who lives across the road.
“I have warned the police, who are only to keen to arrive on my doorstep if my dogs bark, that if they don’t deal with her, I will go out there and sort her out myself,” says Pauline. “There are only so many times you can be told to f*** off before you snap.”
But the police have done nothing.
Pauline’s landlord, Costas Papamichael, confirms her claims. But he is keen to point out that this behaviour is not on behalf of his entire village.
He is disappointed with his co-villagers’ behaviour, admitting that “it could be seen as racism”.
“I like having foreign people in my village,” said Papamichael. “Most people here like Pauline. But there are a certain amount of people who create problems,” Papamichael admitted.
Papamichael pointed out that it must be hard for Pauline’s neighbours to cope with the sound of 12 dogs barking day and night.
But Pauline – as well as a number of neighbours and friends – swears blind that her dogs are not noisy. And in the two and a half hours I was at their home, the truth is, the dogs didn’t make a sound. Not even when a number of surrounding dogs in the neighbourhood started barking.
“This is what makes them bark,” Pauline said, presenting three big rocks, which she said were thrown into her back yard as a means of winding the dogs up.
The Sunday Mail was presented with a number of letters from concerned residents and tourists, who were enraged at how badly Pauline’s human rights were being violated.
A number of Liopetri residents, British and Cypriot, even signed a petition entitled: “We the undersigned wish to state that Mrs Pauline Lyne-Maries of [her personal address] does in fact clean her house and yard on a daily basis.”
In one letter from British Environmental Health Officer John Taylor to the Liopetri council, who has inspected hundreds of premises over the years, he said: “If it wasn’t for the physical presence of the animals, a person would not be aware that Pauline cares for a number of animals.”
He went on to describe the allegations and rumour-spreading as “harassment”.
Repeated attempts to speak to someone at the Liopetri Council have failed, despite numerous messages being left in connection with this story.
However, Papamichael (Pauline’s landlord) has pledged to use his influence in the Council to help stop the harassment.
“I don’t want to see anyone being treated like this and I don’t want my village to be projected as racist,” said Papamichael. “I like Pauline and so do many of my co-villagers. I will not accept a small section of people marring the image of Liopetri.”
