Cyprus Voice for Animals (CVA) has announced that all animal rescue organizations will suspend their trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs for an indefinite period due to security issues.
Danae Kaza of the CVA stated that they require authorization cards from the Ministry of Agriculture, which allows them to neuter animals. Moreover, the rumors circling regarding cats being abducted from homes for TNR projects have made workers vulnerable to physical attacks.
Kaza has publicly requested that they be issued official authorization, since over a hundred procedures are being done every week.
The CVA itself released a statement on the matter, stressing how volunteers working for them have been threatened and attacked verbally and even physically as they went about their way to collect stray cats to sterilize them. Some have even been dragged to police stations and deemed as criminals. This is very disheartening, since most of them did so using their own time and money and with no support from the government.
According to the CVA, the pause will most surely spike uncontrolled breeding, which in turn will force municipalities to face situations far beyond their control and increase animal suffering. The current events, however, have left them with no choice.
