THE START of the hunting season has already taken its toll on hundreds of dogs as hunters involved in ‘turf wars’ turn to new poisons to kill the animals.
In addition to daily poisonings, hunters are now reportedly resorting to mass poisonings of dogs in so called “turf wars”.
“There are huge rivalries between some hunters, who want to show off how many kills they have. Also some do not want others to hunt on what they perceive as their turf, so they go ahead and poison their rival’s dogs,” said president of the Hunting Association, Anthony Kakoullis.
In their attempts to undermine others, hunters are poisoning prey and even artificial water fountains.
President of the Cyprus Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CSPCA), Toula Poyiadji said it was easy for hunters to find poison.
Vet Evangelou Zacharias said that a cocktail of plant pesticides are often used to kill the dogs now that Lanate, the traditional poison in animal deaths, is harder to get.
He said about 300 dogs that have been poisoned are brought to his clinic each year. “Every day we have cases of dogs being poisoned. It’s an epidemic that is getting progressively worse. Dogs are even getting poisoned in Athalassa park, which is one of the only parks that allows dogs,” he said.
Athos Efstathiou of the Zopiros Veterinary Clinic in Strovolos, Nicosia agrees that different poisons are now used: “Lanate is no longer used but there are allot of new poisons available now, much more potent and more deadly. We don’t know how to react”.
The situation is exacerbated by hunters who abandon their dogs when they turn out to be unsuitable for hunting.
“Not only are tens of dogs poisoned on a daily basis but we also see owners abandoning their hunting dogs. They take the dogs out hunting with them but these dogs have not been trained in any way, they hear the first gun shot and the poor things just run away,” Poyiadji said.
She said that in Paphos tens of dogs have been abandoned and farmers are already threatening to poison them as they are worried about their crop. “It’s a viscous circle,” she said.
Poyiadji stressed that the government has failed to help with the issue. She said some dogs could be saved if vets were allowed to import emetics that would induce a dog to throw up any poison consumed, but the government has not approved any emetics for importation.
In addition, she said state veterinarians do not even carry the correct anaesthesia for dogs. “When government workers put an animal to sleep they don’t even use anaesthesia prior to injecting the animal it with poison. They just plunge the needle straight into the animal’s heart. Can you imagine a more painful way to die? It’s a criminal act,” she said.
