Oldest animal shelter may be forced to close

THE oldest animal shelter in Cyprus may be forced to close as there are not enough funds to cover the huge running expenses to provide care for the unwanted animals of the Paphos district, the facility’s staff have said.

Oana Bodnaras of Paphiakos and CCP Animal Welfare told the Cyprus Mail that help is urgently needed now, or the shelter may close, leaving more than 1,000 animals stranded.

“We need help or closure is around the corner. Donations are drying up and the number of animals we shelter has increased. The running costs are high and we don’t have enough funds to cover these,” she said.

Bodnaras said it costs more than €1,050 a day to run the shelter including feeding and medical costs.

The Paphos shelter is home to 150 donkey and horses, around 500 dogs and 700 or so cats and kittens.

Feeding costs of the dogs alone is close to €250 a day, the cats €140 and the donkeys, horses and goats €115. On top of that, medical expenses for the animals average around €550 a day.

“This shows the difficult reality we are facing every day, combined with the fact that rescues are coming in all the time from all areas, 24 hours a day. We really need the public’s help with feeding all the animals and looking after them,” she said.

The shelter has rehomed thousands of animals over the years and a recent success story involves a Kokoni Spaniel called Yoda. He is now owned by Dave Murray and is an RAPPAW therapy dog for traumatised and vulnerable victims of crimes in the UK.

The organisation was initially founded in 1982 as the Cyprus Cat Protection (CCP) and Animal Welfare, and provided shelter for stray cats and dogs.

In 1994 it changed to Paphiakos and CCP Animal Welfare with the aim of promoting and improving animal welfare throughout Cyprus.

Since then, it has grown to provide a veterinary clinic, free rescue and 24-hour emergency service, an information and complaints centre, shelter, boarding, re-homing and a successful pet travel service.
Bodnaras requested that any food donations are taken to the Paphos shelter or reception centre in Kato Paphos, and large quantities collection can be arranged.

For cash donations: Account name: Animal Rescue, Bank: Paphos Co-op savings society Ltd, account no: 4007343-2, IBAN: CY06 0070 2840 0000 0000 4007 3432, BIC: CCBKCY2N.

www.cyprusanimalwelfare.com

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.