Dark Days in Cyprus as Cruelty to Animals Continues

Walking through the Cyprus countryside it is evident how passionate these islanders are about hunting. You can barely move without stepping on a cartridge. Rabbits, woodpigeons and partridge, all of which make good eating, are the main prey, but occasionally other targets can find themselves staring down the barrel.

Last week a Cyprus hunter was reported to have shot his dog for being disobedient and failing to get into his truck on command. The man fired three times before the dog eventually died. Another casualty, a 26-year-old man from Nicosia was taken to hospital after being shot in the face. A further 27 people suffered minor injuries and three people were arrested for hunting illegally. Meanwhile UN Peace Keeping forces warned the hunters not to go near the demilitarised zone between Northern and Southern Cyprus for fear of drawing military fire.

In other unappetising news, poachers were recently blamed for a mass poisoning of birds. Around 300 Chukar partridges were apparently killed as an act of retaliation against the state run anti-poaching body.
However, it was the birds which were made to do the most suffering after drinking from a contaminated water pen.
Cyprus has around 50,000 hunters, which means about one in every 16 Cypriots hunts.
An estimated 3.7 million birds are shot during a maximum of 84 hunting days every year and 750,000 of these are thought to be shot illegally. In March this year two hunters were fined 1,250 Euros each for killing 52 red-footed falcons.

Much crueller though is the traditional Cypriot practice of bird trapping. The birds are lured with electronic bird callers towards sticks coated in lime or nets where they get stuck.
This is an indiscriminate method of killing the birds, some of which will try to chew their own legs off to escape before the hunters arrive. A Cypriot superstition also dictates that all the birds caught must be put down, by snapping their necks between thumb and forefinger, whether or not they were part of the intended catch.
Cyprus’ geographical position under two major migratory routes means that the island has almost four hundred species of birds which stop there at different points in the year.

Unfortunately for the song birds such as Robins and Blackcaps, Cypriots love to eat them boiled or pickled, and ‘ambelopoulia’ is a highly prized delicacy. Although it is illegal to stock ambelopoulia, the high prices of around 40 Euros for a plate of birds mean that many restaurants will risk doing a secret trade with the poachers.
According to conservation group Birdlife International, autumn 2007 was the worst season in four years for bird trapping in Cyprus with around 500,000 caught and killed.



This is in spite of the EU birds directive and Cyprus law which has deemed this practice illegal under the Berne Convention.A Royal Society for the Protection of Birds study has shown that nine out of 10 Cypriots disapprove of trapping, but two per cent of the population - 16,000 people -  still eat ambelopoulia frequently.
The issue of animal cruelty has long been debated in Cyprus. There is one horrifying YouTube video of a Cypriot student throwing boiling water over a dog as he laughs sadistically.


The dog died from its injuries and the incident prompted Care2, a charity whose stated aim is to make a difference, to raise a petition of 3,000 signatures so that justice would be carried out against the culprit.
One of the signatories, Sian Lewis from Cyprus, stated: “Although this is a horrific act of violence, unfortunately it is not an isolated incident and more part of a general disrespect and cruelty towards animals that I witness on a daily basis.
“The government needs to get with the rest of Europe and update their thinking, and the legal system needs to back this up with severe punishments for those who continue with this violence towards animals.”
But the Animal Responsibility Cyprus co-founder Patricia Radnor said: “The 1994 Animal Welfare Legislation is excellent. “However, it is basically ignored. There is no infrastructure or inspectors to enforce it.”
The law states that once a complaint about cruelty to animals has been made, the veterinary department must send someone out to check on them. The owner is given a warning and if no improvement is made a police officer will be sent to charge them.

In recent years Cyprus has made large steps towards improving the rights of animals by dedicating specially trained officers within each local police force whose main responsibility and training is for looking after animals.
It is certainly not possible to single Cypriots out for cruelty to animals when there are many peoples in the world who have much blood on their hands in this respect.

One need only visit the marina at Limassol to see how kind Cypriots can be to animals, for it contains many wonderfully fat and happy cats which are fed by the locals.
And a campaign has been launched by birdlife Cyprus to educate the youth and encourage them to think of the migrating birds which grace their shores as a form of wealth.

It seems that education is the best way forward to persuade Cypriots to support their laws and look after animals. Now that they are members of the EU, some of their traditions may have to be amended or even sacrificed.
Indeed, with many tourists coming to the island specifically to see these birds, Cypriots have a duty to look after the natural features which will help maintain their economy.


Reporter: Robert Frische