‘Mutiny’ among village residents over stray dogs

Residents of the village of Kapouti, north of Morphou, are “at the point of mutiny” due to the large and growing number of stray dogs which inhabit the village, according to Morphou Animal protection association chairwoman Rana Sarro.

Sarro said the number of stray dogs in the village has “exposed the village’s residents to a dangerous situation,” and said the problem has gone unresolved for four years.

She called on the local authorities to do more about the issue, explaining that according to Turkish Cypriot law, “municipalities are obliged to build a dog shelter, but the Morphou Municipality has not built a shelter for 25 years.”

She continued, “as if this were not enough, they are trying to prevent private citizens from building shelters by not offering up any land.”

She added that ‘interior minister’ Dursun Oguz had instructed both the ‘Morphou district governor’ and the ‘district governors’ overseer’ to provide land for her organisation to rent with the view of building a dog shelter, but that they had ignored him.

Therefore, she said, her organisation “is determined” to take further action, including possibly staging a protest in front of the ‘interior ministry’ building.

“We invite Dursun Oguz to show the necessary will to prevent this problem from descending into further chaos,” she said.