Sir,
Bearing in mind the adverse publicity that has been whipped up in some quarters of the press, I was pleased to read the letter from Tamara Strick defending the hard work carried out by the Animal Welfare groups in Cyprus (letters, Sunday Mail, September 5).
They all carry out their never-ending work with tireless professionalism, kindness and care, particularly the main one here in Paphos. Taking into account the appalling number of animals they have to deal with, no one is naive enough to think that every rescue has a happy ending – after all, the majority of these animals were abandoned in the first place, and there are only a certain amount of suitable places where they can be rehomed, and it is surely better that no animal is allowed to endure sickness and suffering any longer than necessary. The education of people regarding Animal Welfare is very much part of the work of the rescue centre, especially schoolchildren, who, it is to be hoped, will grow up with a different attitude towards animal than their forefathers.
Having emphasised these points, I feel that Tamara then loses the plot, as she maintains that there is no malicious cruelty towards animals here in Cyprus, only basic ignorance, and that it is we British residents who are unfairly affirming otherwise.
I don’t know what planet she has been living on, but I call it malicious to deliberately mix poison with meat and serve it to cats and dogs. It is also pretty malicious to hurl dogs out of fast-moving cars and then roar away, leaving the wretched things to be run over or run panic-stricken after their owner’s car in a pathetic attempt to be reunited with them. Running over animals rather than try to avoid them, and not even bothering to see if they are dead or injured is not simple ignorance, it’s arrogance. Not neutering animals is one sort of ignorance, not just confined to Cyprus, but there is a cruelty to animals among some people that nothing can justify.
Cruelty to animals is barbaric and many in this country, sadly, do not seem to share that view.
The government takes no stand on the matter, because it is not a vote winner, so the atrocities and barbarism go unpunished.
We have been resident here for just over two years, and I have been sickened at some of the sights I have seen. I have lost three beautiful cats, run over or poisoned, and my heart broke for each of them. I worry endlessly about my remaining cats, terrified if they are absent for too long, a worry I’ve never had with any of the other animals I have owned throughout my life. No, they are not child substitutes, and yes, they did and do sometimes curl up on the bed -although I drew the line at letting the cows and horse upstairs when we lived on the farm! Don’t take us for senile old fools, it is the British residents here who contribute the most help to the Welfare centres in order that suffering can be alleviated and, hopefully, education can continue.
Anita E. Dye, Paphos
