omg this has outraged me and really upset me how can people be so cruel was looking at Cyprus next year no chance now don't know if I can say this but I hope all the abusers rot in hell x

My sister also couldn't stand seeing all the cruelty. She did " adopt" a cat but when she had to move back to the UK she got someone else to look after her. She was over a couple of weeks ago and cat is still going strong!

im the same Fiona I would end up getting arrested if I spotted any one being cruel there is no need for it so until it improves over there I wont be visiting Cyprus x

Same here I would probably get punched a I would get lippy if I saw this, It's appalling - why are the authorities not doing more, if it's common that cruelty goes on - surely the locals don't think it's acceptable? I do not understand that mentality at all.

Cyprus - a you have lived there for all that time, as you say it must be difficult indeed, do you/firends have pets, it can't be easy if you do then can it.

Hi Miss Pink

We came to Cyprus from UK and brought with us our dog and 2 cats, each travelling in their own travel crate at a cost of 2,000 GBP in 2004.

Our 2 cats have since passed on but both through old age rather than anything sinister. Our original dog is now 12 years old and doing fine plus we have another dog which I "found" as a puppy of 14wks old tied up with electricity cable to a fence post by the roadside. I had passed by the same way some 90 minutes previously to walk a friends dog and she wasn't there then.

Initially, I drove past her as you have to turn a blind eye to pick up an animal as it's simply not possible to rescue every animal you find. But I relented and reversed back to pick her up. Our own dog hated her on sight but now they are best buddies.

If you're prepared to pick it up, you also have to be prepared to look after it full time - the animal shelters get very little help and are mostly funded by donations. They're overloaded and even more so because of the recent financial crisis. In August, the number of abandoned animals increase when people go on holiday and chuck their animals out on the streets to fend for themselves rather than put them in kennels.

People also move back to their respective countries and just abandon their pets too - I cannot comprehend this! And, this includes UK expats too!

So now, we have a dog from UK who is the size of a Springer Spaniel and the other is a Rottweiler bitch who goes by the name of Ruby and is approximately the size of a small donkey. She lives the life of Riley, sleeps on the sofa all day and on the bed at night. She's the first to find the prime location of the A/C unit in the summer and a warm spot on my bed in the sunshine during the winter. She's a big pudding of a dog...

When we walk them, we make sure we are always together and we take them up to Kouris Dam and walk them where we can see both sides of the road, away from long grass in case of poison and away from where hunters go shooting. They are never ever let off the lead.

We've lived on the same street for the whole time we've been in Cyprus and are the only expats on it. We are surrounded by Cypriot neighbours and have seen the changes over the years. Most families now have a pet of some sort be it dogs or cats. Some are left to wander as they feel like, others are walked up and down the street regularly. The guy behind us is the local rescuer and often has 4 or 5 dogs at his house (usually in pens) and he also has his own house dog who doesn't like other dogs so she stays with the family. So, they're not all bad....

With this latest cruelty issue many of the biggest voices are Cypriot so things have definitely changed but sadly, there's still a very long way to go and until the legal system recognises it and makes new legislations - things will never change. There is no punishment to fit the crime so they continually get away with.

Don't get me wrong, we love our new life here in Cyprus but cruelty and heartless/thoughtless treatment is certainly something I could do without.

Yes my sister also noted that when follks moved back to the UK they often just abandoned their pets. She was horrified. She would have paid for her rescue cat to come back with her but she had a neighbour that the cat used to visit and she was happy to look after it.

Now the story is starting to hit far and wide.

From Lonely Planet guides and travel info:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/europe-eastern-europe-the-caucasus/cyprus/the-flip-side-of-sunny-cyprus

Sorry Cyprus have just caught up with this again, I'm glad things are changing albeit not as quick as you would like no doubt, it would break my heart too, and I could not contemplate moving without taking my Sasha (cat) with me, she is a rescue from Cat protection and follows me like a puppy dog, and I love her to bits.

Slightly off topic, a 'neighbour' their garden backed on to mine, they moved and new folks have obviously moved in, and the previous people just left their cat here a three legged tabby - now it's very skittish, and runs when it' sees people, I've left food out (I know that's not good) but have not seen for several days and fear the worst, so no you're right it's not just other countries that need to keep their house in order.

Sadly, little Billy the poodle puppy who was hunted down and thrown alive into the cardboard crushing machine died early this morning. He never came out of the coma.

More details here from the Cyprus-Mail: http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/07/04/dog-thrown-in-cardboard-crusher-has-died/

The hotel concerned is the Anastasia Hotel in Pernera and has been named in the past for poisoning large numbers of stray cats at the end of each summer season.

A very sad thing to have to report as there are also other hotels and hotel chains in Cyprus which actively provide feeding stations for cats within the grounds of their hotels - Atlantica Group is one such hotel chain I'm aware of who provide this service.