Abused stray being taken care of, Napa municipality says

The Ayia Napa municipality said on Wednesday that the dog who was abused by a municipality worker on Tuesday is in good health and being cared for by state vets.

The incident, which was caught on video, sparked outcry after it was posted on social media. It shows a municipality worker using excessive force while trying to catch the animal and take it to the pound.

In a statement released after the video went viral on Facebook, the municipality admitted that the worker had mishandled the dog as he shoved the animal into a cage.

It said the municipality had received several complaints from people who saw the dog was wandering in the Cape Greco area and expressed concern it might be dangerous.

“I can confirm that the dog is in perfectly good health, after vets checked him thoroughly,” an Ayia Napa municipality spokesperson told Cyprus Mail on Wednesday.

“The dog will be neutered and microchipped at the municipality’s expense.

“As the law states, we will wait for 15 days before we put him up for adoption, in case the rightful owner claims him. We cooperate with several shelters in the area and for years we have handed the strays we catch to them,” the spokesperson said.

She also admitted that the municipality worker had indeed used excessive force when handling the dog, but did not disclose whether he would be disciplined or not.

Representatives from the Animal Party also visited the dog on Wednesday to check on his conditions.

They had conversations about the incident with police officers and with the Ayia Napa mayor Christos Zannetou.

“We will carefully investigate the incident in order to decide whether we need to file a case against the municipality worker for his unacceptable behaviour,” the party said.

“We cannot tolerate such scenes and we will also be relentless in bringing such incidents to light and make sure they are addressed with the appropriate severity,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile the Citizens Alliance said the incident showed how ill-trained the worker was in handling an dog an thus in doing his job properly.

“These positions should be served only by those who have undergone the appropriate training,” the party said. “Those who fail to meet the criteria should be removed from these services”.