On this page Argos founder Stella will regularly bring you up to date news on a wide range of subjects concerning the shelters activities and any other information that concerns animal welfare in general. Whatever the news and however it affects the shelter and its mission, our supporters have a right to know.
Total No. of dogs end of October = 69
Rescued
Dogs
|
2 |
Kenny, Florie
|
Total Rehomed |
4 |
|
Cyprus |
1 |
Rubin |
Germany |
2 |
Siegi, Balto |
Belgium |
1 |
Honey |
Total No. of dogs at the end of November = 67
Total No. of cats end September = 111
New
|
3 |
Peaches, Ruby,
Stella
|
Total Rehomed |
6 |
|
UK |
5 |
Tycheros, Daisy, Rita, Snowy,
Snowball |
Sweden |
1 |
Bebis |
Died |
1 |
Tiny (Liver failure) |
Total No. of Cats at the end of November = 107
The new Associations Law has been under discussion since 2007 and in June this year it was approved by the House of Representatives and ratified on the 14/07/17. All registered societies, NGO’s and Institutions were invited to the presentation for an analyses of the provisions of this new Law and explained in detail the legal requirements that affect the organizations.
The NGO Initiative Group had deliberated with the government in making suggestions for the reforms to be in accordance with the International Associations Laws and had pressured govt. to change some of the provisions e.g. the removal of the stipulation to submit the membership register annually. One stipulation which they did not manage to change was the minimum number of persons required to register an organization which is 20. They argued that International Associations Law allows for a minimum of 2 persons but the government did not agree to the change.
The reason that this new law has come into effect is that
many people had complained of being duped by so-called
bona-fide organizations into giving money for causes that
didn’t exist. As the legal requirements for this new
bill are quite stringent, many small and inactive
societies will fold. The organisations remaining
will be entered onto the government’s register of approved
organizations and people who want to donate will be able
to access this register and see the approved names.
Meeting of the District Animal Welfare Committees
convened to discuss the government’s €75,000 grant for the
cat Trap/Neuter/Release programme for 2017. Although
the grant was approved in August, the government’s slow
moving rhythm has taken so long to get the programme
started. Today each of the animal welfare committee
members were given a book of vouchers and assigned areas
to coordinate the trap/neuter/release
programme.
I am responsible for the area of Oroklini, Pyla and the
tourist area of Larnaca/Dhekelia road. I alerted the
volunteers I know in the area and they started on
Wednesday 15th November trapping cats. Unfortunately
we only have until the 8th December this year to complete
the programme and if we haven’t managed to use up all of
the grant money, then the government takes it
back. The system the govt. has proposed
in the implementation of this programme clearly shows that
whoever suggested it has no idea of the difficulties in
trapping large numbers of cats within the frame time we
were given.
Within the framework of World Animal Day 2017, Pedigree
& Whiskas ran an islandwide campaign to feed the
shelter animals and managed to concentrate 15,000 meals
and distributed the food based on the number of
animals at each shelter.
Pedigree & Whiskas has donated on an annual basis for
a few years now, coordinating the fundraising events known
as ‘Petfest’ with Cyprus Voice for Animals and the
allocation and distribution of the food via CVA. They also
sponsored all adoptions carried out by shelters within
specified dates but since the recession, Pedigree &
Whiskas have had to make major cutbacks and although the
petfest events stopped, they have implemented other
methods to donate food for the shelters. Food
was collected by shelters at the end of November.
On the 21/11/17 we received a call from the Sklavenitis
management to remove our pet food donation containers
which we have had in place in Larnaca and Paralimni for
many years when Carrefour was trading. The reason of
course is that this is the policy of the chain and the
visiting chairman didn’t want to see them in the
store. This, of course did not affect only Argos,
but all of the island’s
animal welfare organizations who had their own pet food
containers in the Carrefour stores islandwide and were
asked to remove them.
It is of course their prerogative not to support animal
welfare but in adopting this policy, they have taken away
their customers’ easy way of supporting animals in
shelters and of course, their own loss of income in pet
food sales. This method of supporting animal
shelters has been in place in major supermarkets
throughout Europe for many years but it seems that in
Cyprus, instead of progressing, we are regressing.
Cyprus Voice for Animals (of which I am Secretary and one
of the initial founders) spent many years lobbying Cyprus
supermarkets as to the efficacy of this method of donating
and in allowing pet food donation containers in their
stores but Sklavenitis wants nothing to do with pet food
containers as they claim that they clutter their
store. Not so of course as organizations have spent
a lot of money having these containers made and they look
neat, tidy and their message is clear – a message that
Sklavenitis management doesn’t care about!
Stella and the Argos Team.
Total No. of dogs end of September = 73
Rescued Dogs
|
12 |
Lucy, Queenie, Princess, Chase, Alex,
Juno, Jenny, Julie, Honey, Siege, Bruce, Rubin |
Total Rehomed |
16 |
|
Cyprus
|
2 |
Molly, Cassie |
Germany |
3
|
Mickey, Mike, Poppy |
UK
|
11 |
Timmy, Benny, Bentley, Charlie,
Cilla, Destiny, Dixie, Ice, Judy, Cindy,
Winston
|
Total No. of dogs at the end of October = 69
Total No. of cats end September = 112
New | 4 |
Charity, Freedom, Kopelitsa,
Tycheros
|
Total Rehomed |
2 |
|
Switzerland |
2 |
Lemon, Kalia |
Died |
2 |
Brando, Fudge |
Total No. of Cats at the end of October = 112
This year, Dogs Trust selected Cyprus as the country to
hold their International Companion Animal Welfare
Conference and Argos as host organization. Before
the main event, Dogs Trust offered a 2-day workshop free
of charge, for animal welfare organizations to benefit
from the seminar and dog demonstration, highlighting
training and understanding dog body language. The 2-day
seminar was held in Ormidhia ( home town of the Argos
sanctuary) and luncheon and refreshments were all covered
by Dogs Trust. We had 30 participants which included
representatives from animal organizations and also from
Nicosia municipalities.
Far Left : Steve Goward the Dogs Trust behaviorist during
a demonstration session with Shakira.
Right : Luncheon and refreshments morning and
afternoon over the 2-day workshop was held at the Square
Café in Ormidhia.
Animal welfare organizations and representatives of the
relevant government departments were invited to a
conference at the Ministry of Justice for the minister to
announce the government’s plans on the creation of an
animal welfare police unit.
The new draft bill does not define their powers nor
assignation of any special tasks which stem from its
character as "animal police", nor any additional power of
direct intervention.
The draft bill provides for training the officers in
matters of animal welfare which has been ongoing for some
years now anyway so nothing new here either. What is
actually needed is practical knowledge in the management
of the various incidents:
Based on our experience, this organizational pattern
presented in the bill, whether it is called Animal Police
or something else, is inadequate and cannot cope
with the ever-increasing incidents of poisoning, abuse,
neglect and abandonment of animals.
We had the pleasure of welcoming to the shelter, three
coach loads of delegates from over 40 countries and
participants of the Dogs Trust International Animal
Welfare Conference. We gave them a tour of the
shelter and we had wonderful comments on the cleanliness,
the socialization of our animals and our large open kennel
space and as one delegate put it, “ it’s wonderful to see
that the animals have the opportunity to have access to
the outside at all times and enjoy the companionship of
other dogs.’ Another practice of ours which
surprised them was the communal feeding troughs in the dog
runs which we implemented a few years ago and they wanted
to know whether fights break out for the food. Quite
the contrary, we explained, this practice has taken away
food aggression because the dogs have access to food all
day long and the troughs are covered only at night
time. We also gave them a demonstration of our daily
releasing of dogs in the wild area – a large expanse of
area which is part of the shelter, completely fenced but
it is full of trees, slopes with caves and they run until
they are exhausted and when they are tired, they all come
back to the gate ready to be let back into their
kennels. Steve Goward, the Dogs Trust behaviorist
who gave the 2-day seminar asked to video this so he could
use it in his future workshops.
In the photo our team - from
left to right, Stella, Sue, Adrian Burder CEO of Dogs
Trust, Mary and Dinos.
Dogs Trust International Animal Welfare Conference
included many highlights during the four days of the
conference. Delegates arrived from over 40 countries
and apart from the opening day of the conference which
introduced many speakers covering a variety of subjects
ranging from antibiotic use, to projects supported by Dogs
Trust worldwide, we also heard of the difficulties, the
dangers and the threats against the lives encountered by
other organizations in the protection of animals within
their community. The delegates also had the
opportunity to take part in the scheduled sightseeing
tours within Nicosia city. In fact we met a couple
who never miss a conference and make this their annual
holiday as well.
The conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet people
from all over the world, even as far as Nepal, to discuss
and exchange information on their projects, fundraising
and discussing future cooperation. One such
organization was Wild at Heart Foundation in the UK who
had never heard of Argos prior to the conference and
following their visit to the shelter, we have agreed to
cooperate in the promotion of dogs and cats for adoption
in the UK.
Having experienced the Dogs Trust conference and the
wealth of knowledge and experience imparted by other
participants of their life’s mission, we have said that we
will not miss another conference again, if we can help
it. The 2018 ICAW Conference then will take place in
Krakow Poland.
In the petition letter to the President, Cyprus Voice for
Animals highlighted the reasons for the protest stating
that the united movement of animal welfare and
environmental organizations, parties, volunteers and
citizens has gathered today on the occasion of the
International Animal Day, to express their dissatisfaction
at the State’s lack of an animal welfare and protection
policy.
Although some measures which have been proclaimed are
welcome, these are not enough and have come too late but
we look forward to seeing when and how they will
materialize. We're tired of picking up poisoned
animals, collecting kittens and puppies in nylon bags and
cartons from garbages and fields. These phenomena that
take place in a ‘European state’ are shameful and it is
time the government ceases to burden its legal
responsibilities on the shoulders of animal welfare groups
and individuals. We are petitioning for the
following:
1. Subsidization or even free Microchipping programmes
2. Free sterilization programs, with significant amounts
of at least 100,000 a year over a 5-year period.
3. Immediately promote the frozen parliamentary bills on
animal welfare and increase penalties for animal crimes.
4. The immediate abolition of inhumane dog-holding cages
and tethering, a practice which demeans our European
image.
5. Animal Police, adequately staffed, trained and
sensitized.
6. The establishment of an independent Animal Health and
Control Service, organized on a district level to include
shelters, veterinary clinics and training programmes that
can effectively implement such a service……….our suggestion
to the government since 2014!
Rescued Dogs |
12 |
Stevie, Jane, Frank, Edward, Lady,
Sadie, Abbey, Benny, Lucy, Lenny |
Total Rehomed |
12 |
|
Germany |
7 |
Olive, Skip, Pebbles, Colt, Rosco,
Amos, Leo |
UK |
5 |
Nancy, Ellen, Stevie, Star, Toto |
Total No. of dogs at the end of May
= 83 |
New
|
9 |
Pipe, Dusty, Skippy, Leo, Patch,
Scooter, Roxy, Sandy, Ava |
Total Rehomed |
1 |
|
Died |
2 |
Napa (corona virus), Skippy (too
young without mother) |
Cyprus
|
1 |
Skye
|
Total No. of Cats at the end of June
=101 |
One of the most important roles of an animal shelter is
the education programmes both in schools and the shelter
visits. Here our lecturer, Nicos Kountouris talks to
the children about responsible ownership, love, care and
respect for all God’s creatures and the importance of
animals in our lives. Nicos is holding in his hands
a few days old puppy saved when the new-to-the shelter
mother was taken in for spaying and had no indications
that she was pregnant. Haydi is still being fostered
by Sue Hannis and is a strong and healthy puppy.
As a member of the District Animal Welfare Committee it
is essential that we have the cooperation of the police
when it comes to investigating animal complaints and
especially when a confiscation of an animal is
planned. The role of the police under the law is to
be present and offer assistance to the government
veterinary services and to us.
The object of the above meeting was to introduce
myself as a member of the committee, explain the role of
the animal committee’s under the animal welfare law and to
ask for cooperation.
In 2013 during the haircut when the bank’s were closed for
almost a week and many organizations on the island had no
access to money, we sent out a plea for help.
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare USA) responded
and sent out their reps to assess the situation.
They responded by sending €20,000 through Cyprus Voice for
Animals which is the union of the majority of the
animal welfare organizations in Cyprus, to buy food
and distribute it to the shelters. This year, Meg
from IFAW visited the island and CVA reps Mary Anastasi
and Stella Stylianou toured Meg to the shelters to see how
they were coping and report back to their supporters who
had donated to help in 2013.
In the photo we are at CAPCA dog shelter in Paphos.
We also visited Malcolm’s cats in Limassol. This was also
an opportunity for CVA to catch up on our members and any
problems they may be experiencing.
CVA representatives Mary Anastasi and Dinos Agiomamitis
met with the Mayor’s of Agios Dometios, Engomis and
Lakatamia, Nicosia to discuss the implementation of a
programme to address the problems of stray cat control,
with the possibility of funding a cat sterilisation scheme
and the obligatory microchipping of dogs for the control
of dog abandonment and also methods of capturing packs of
dogs.
Because this problem is now out of control, the local
authorities want to try and address it as people are
complaining of neighbourhoods overrun with cats and the
threat to human and animal life by packs of dogs roaming
and have proven difficult to capture.
Stella.