Cyprus Voice for Animals (CVA) has reached an agreement with the Commissioner for the Environment and Animal Protection to create a formal authorisation framework for volunteers carrying out Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) work, following a wave of attacks that forced the organisation to suspend operations after repeated attacks on volunteers.
The agreement was reached at a meeting at the office of Commissioner Antonia Theodosiou, which was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and the Animal Police.
The Director of Veterinary Services, Christodoulos Pipis, also participated. CVA said details and procedures would be announced in due course.
The suspension of operations followed a wave of harassment against volunteers that CVA representative Danae Kaza said had escalated from online abuse into physical attacks.
Kaza told en.philenews the trouble began in February, when claims spread on social media that cats had been stolen from outside a supermarket. The accusations went viral and spilled into real-life confrontations, with volunteers facing residents who shouted at them, accused them of stealing cats and, in some cases, physically attacked them during TNR operations.
Kaza said volunteers had been pushed, hit and, in one incident, had a heavy metal trap thrown at their head. In another case, foreign volunteers carrying out TNR work were surrounded by residents. She said the situation had become untenable. “We can’t risk our lives anymore,” she said. “Now it’s a matter of life or death.”
CVA also raised concerns about the police response. Kaza told en.philenews that in one incident, officers forced two foreign volunteers to release five cats they had trapped for sterilisation and took them to the police station late at night, despite the law permitting TNR work.
She said that when she called police to explain the situation, an officer allegedly asked her what TNR was and why volunteers were picking up cats.
CVA had written to the Ministry of Agriculture calling for official volunteer authorisation, clear police guidance and state recognition of TNR work as conditions for resuming operations.
The Ministry said it had received the letter and that it was being reviewed by the Veterinary Services. It said it unequivocally condemned harassment directed at animal welfare volunteers and urged that such incidents be reported to police.
TNR involves catching stray cats, sterilising them and returning them to the same area. It is used to control stray populations, reduce animal suffering and prevent wider public health problems.