Let the poor animals die with dignity

Sir,

So, on yet another issue Cyprus pleads with the EU for an exemption on a proposed directive (‘Officers head to Brussels to plead for Cyprus goats’, Cyprus Mail, November 13).

Scrapie is a disease which apparently affects scores of thousands of unfortunate animals on the island. Whereas many other European countries have had a policy of euthanising affected animals for decades, Cyprus has just ignored the problem, leading to the current impasse.

Let’s put aside the claim that scrapie could never cross the species divide to infect humans –the same was claimed of BSE, a closely related disease. Experts and government ministers were paraded on TV screens to deny the possibility, but it still happened. 

Instead lets look at animal welfare issues. Scrapie is a fatal degenerative brain disease. Symptoms include: a strange gait, compulsive lip-smacking, repeated rubbing so that the animal’s fleece is often worn away, continuous biting of the animals own feet, and violent convulsions leading to death.

Clearly, the shepherds, goat-herders, veterinarians and government representatives on the island are immune to animal suffering.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m quite put off my lamb chops.

Mal Boor
Ormideia

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.