Cyprus is a beautiful country much loved by tourists, but beauty sometimes hides cruelty, and sadly Cyprus is notorious for its animal neglect and abuse.
Many locals retain superstitions around animals, including the belief that street dogs are inherently dangerous and dirty. Even worse, medieval cruelty is occurring in the heart of Cyprus…
People are poisoning stray dogs, who die in agony!
These instances of callousness are on the rise. Vigilantes are killing street animals by leaving food out for them – but it’s laced with poison, killing them agonizingly, and indiscriminately.
In our desperate efforts to save the street dogs of Cyprus, we partner with Stray Haven, a local animal shelter near Limassol. Recently, we rescued eight orphaned puppies from the side of the road. The mother was lying nearby, dead. She had been poisoned!
Tragically, the helpless puppies were left abandoned, squealing, desperately hungry and raging with thirst.
You can imagine how heart-breaking the scene was? We raced the puppies to Stray Haven and rapidly obtained critical medicines for them.
We’re doing our absolute best to help street dogs in Cyprus, but Stray Haven is bursting at the seams. It has 150 dogs, many needing specialist veterinary care, which we really battle to pay for. Tragically, sometimes we rescue a sick or injured animal, but simply lack the funds to buy the medicine he or she needs.
The dogs at Stray Haven all receive primary care and lots of love, but they desperately need medicines.
Cyprus is one of the world’s most beautiful tourist spots. Russian wealth is pouring into the island. Glitzy apartment blocks scan the seafront, and super-yachts grace many of the harbors on the sparkling southern Mediterranean coast, but the animals get very little help.
Our team is struggling to save street dogs and We really need your help to buy medicines, STOP mass poisoning and unspeakable cruelty.
Old attitudes die hard – and even younger people’s attitudes are difficult to change. Owners often refuse to sterilize their pets, based on outdated ideas. And pets are routinely abandoned. This has led to an exploding population of stray dogs, estimated at hundreds of thousands.
The Cypriot mentality is to deal with this increasing number of street dogs by feeding them poisoned meat!
Locals are often scornful of our efforts to help these poor animals and local politicians generally regard animal welfare as beneath them.
Something must be done!
We have to stop the cycle of appalling cruelty. While we try to educate people, and negotiate and plead with local authorities, we must save as many dogs as we can!
There is so much more to do. We must keep pressure on the local authorities to alleviate the situation. We must find a way to buy vital medication and equipment for Stray Haven. We need better facilities, closer to the city.
Cyprus is recognized as a wonderful tourist destination and one of the safest places in the world – except for street dogs.
By donating now, you can help us improve shelter facilities and to fight the horrible practice of poisoning. We must give these street animals the chance of a better life. We are asking for your help because they deserve at least that.
Please donate generously, today. The dogs of Cyprus would thank you if they could.
For the animals,
Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founder and CEO
P.S. The truth is that our resources are increasingly stretched. But we really believe this dreadful problem in Cyprus must be prioritized. We are tireless in pushing the authorities to legislate for the protection of animals. But with your help, we will continue to work hard on this front. And we WILL succeed.