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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
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‘Dog pound failed in its duty of care’ Damning report by animal welfare groups sent to AG By Natalie Hami
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NIMAL welfare groups have sent a damning report to Attorneygeneral Petros Clerides detailing a ‘systemic regime of animal abuse’ at the Dali municipal dog pound. Clerides confirmed that he had seen the report and already sent it to the chief of police. “They told me that they would investigate and let me know,” he said. The litany of alleged abuses, which animal lovers have been collecting since April includes dogs being left to die with no medical attention or basic veterinary care, dogs entering the pound in a healthy condition and being found emaciated “to the point of death” only eight weeks later, dogs living in filthy conditions, surrounded by faeces and crawling with ticks, puppies dying through lack of basic care and being left to rot in the kennel with other live puppies, dogs disappearing and dying with no explanation or paperwork. No efforts were made to re-home any of the dogs, it claimed. The report said only one person was given responsibility for taking care of the dogs, and he only worked until 2pm daily and never on the weekends, which meant the animals were
left to fend for themselves 60 hours at a stretch once a week. It is against the law to leave an animal alone for more than 24 hours, the report said. “Our evidence gathering culminated in the discovery of a mass grave of dog carcasses directly outside the dog pound,” said the report compiled by the Friends of Cyprus Dog Rescue, Cyprus Animal Liberation Front (CALF). This was the “most sickening and horrifying piece of evidence” found, the report said, and in contravention of health laws. One of the dogs in the grave, a Great Dane cross called Romeo who was alive on July 17 was found on July 24 with a bag tied round his head, said the report. Evidence suggested he had not eaten for days. According to a forensic scientist who studied photos: “While it seems that he was not killed on site there are what look like shoe and paw prints in the sanded area at the top of the pit. If it’s not the photograph showing shadows then at least one dog was led down there alive.” The forensic scientist – part of Friends of Cyprus Dog Rescue – deduced, among other things, that some dogs may have been placed in plastic bags and then placed in the grave while they were still
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The Nicosia fire department carrying out drills in Onasagorou and Ledra streets yesterday to ensure cafés with outside seating are not causing obstructions in case of an emergency FULL STORY PAGE 3 (Christos Theodorides)
Finance minister says the state payroll must be cut By George Psyllides THE finance minister signalled yesterday that any savings in the state’s operating expenses would come from cuts in payroll and other benefits as unions called for balanced measures to cover the cost of Cyprus’ bailout. “An economist may conclude that since
we know the state’s expenses and since we are looking to raise some substantial amounts, these will not come from savings in electricity or the phone (bills), but they must come from the large state expenses … the payroll, allowances, 13th salaries and anything else you can imagine,” Vassos Shiarly told the Cyprus News Agency. The minister also appealed for people to put the interest of the country above
anything else at this critical juncture. “We must think of the state and not any other interests. The state must be above everything and this should be our conscience,” Shiarly said. Cyprus sought emergency financial aid from its EU partners on June 25 to buffer a banking sector hammered by exposure to Greece, becoming the fifth eurozone
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