The Ecologists movement on Wednesday expressed its strong opposition to proposals to kill stray dogs in the Paphos forest as discussed in a meeting between government services and the forestry department on Monday.
“A modern society cannot accept the killing of defenceless animals as a solution,” said the party’s animal action group coordinator, Anthi Mouzouri.
The protection of local wild animals and wildlife was “everyone’s obligation”, the movement said, stressing that the solution could not be the extermination of the animals, which were themselves victims of abandonment.
Rather than addressing the cause of the problem, the killing of the dogs would shift the responsibility from those who abandon animals to the animals themselves, it added.
Instead of killing the animals, the Ecologists suggest the collection of dogs by specialised personnel, the strengthening of neutering programmes and the transfer to appropriate shelters, as well as strict consequences for owners who abandon their animals.
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