The environment and animal welfare commissioner has expressed her concern over the recent increase in animal abuse cases in Cyprus.

“There was an unfortunate increase of serious animal abuse incidents, causing harm or even death to animals during the month of January,” Antonia Theodosiou said in an announcement on Monday.

She said such incidents violate the animal welfare laws and their strict implementation is necessary.
“When some members of the public choose to act brutally or violate laws and regulations, the responsibility shifts to the authorities, who must act immediately and enforce the law and punish violators in an exemplary manner,” Theodosiou said.

She cited four serious incidents of animal cruelty that took place in January: dog murders, animals trapped in a tank, dog abuse and animal poisoning.

The first incident concerns a dog murder that happened earlier in January, where a resident reported that both of his dogs were found dead in Paphos.

Further investigations showed that the dogs were shot by a shotgun.

The suspect was arrested for fatally wounding the dogs, that according to him were disturbing the birds he was raising.

During the same month two strays were trapped in the recycled water pond in Deftera, when the fire department rescued them, they found shotgun shells around the pond while several dead animals and birds were found inside.

“Unfortunately, there are similar cases to this one, as animals get trapped in ponds of recycled water, including wild species, such as foxes and hares.”

The commissioner said that it’s important to frequently maintain the fencing around open lakes-reservoirs, because they pose a potential danger to all fauna, as well as to humans.

The dog abuse incident took place in Kissonerga-Peyia where a dog was found in a critical condition wrapped in a plastic bag inside of a bin.

The dog was immediately taken to a veterinary hospital for further treatment while further police investigation led to the arrest of two people.

Additionally, according to a British bases report there were four incidents of fox and stray dog poisoning in the last three months at the area of Akrotiri and Episkopi.

“In one of the incidents, poisonous baits were detected by the dogs of the Poisoned Bait Detection Team of the Game and Fauna Service.”

The commissioner urged residents to report any incident of abuse by providing documented information and contacting the competent authorities.