Wild dogs killing stray cats in Nicosia

A pack of dogs has been attacking and killing cats at the Pedieos linear park in Nicosia, a volunteer warned on Wednesday, urging the public to be careful.

The first incidents of dead cats appeared in late November but has steadily been getting worse, according to Nikos Tsouris, who spoke to Politis radio.

“We know there is a pack of dogs, they are stray dogs that were once abandoned and are trying to survive.”

Tsouris, a volunteer for feeding stray cats, cautioned the public, saying “it is a very busy park. People go for their walks, take their dogs out, go to exercise. God forbid something happens.”

He said there was initially some difficulty in trying to get municipalities to do something however over the past two weeks, Strovolos and Nicosia municipalities are making concerted efforts to capture the dogs.

Specifically, there are four to six dogs that are brown, one of which has a white patch on its neck.

“If anyone sees anything, they are urged to call the municipality and say where they saw the dogs.”

A makeshift shelter has been created at Pedieos park to look after the stray cats, meaning there are hundreds of cats in the area.

Tsouris also called on the public not to leave food lying around for animals to eat, as authorities and volunteers were trying to capture the dogs and leaving food in specific paces to try and lure them.

Leaving food in other areas is likely to subvert these efforts, he added.