By Chris Elliott…..
So many people express their concern for animal welfare around the world through social media and no more so than here in Northern Cyprus which being a close knit group of communities achieves great success in motivating change.
We recently assisted with the publication of a meeting being planned to bring people together and plan for action and we have received this report from Ralf Purcell of the North Cyprus Animal Carers group (which will be seeking approval as an association) and are sharing this so other concerned people can reach out and support this latest initiative to help street animals.
NCACA meeting
Hi Chris,
Here is the update from last night’s meeting (15th March).
Firstly a big thank you to all those that managed to attend it was great to see you all.
I believe the meeting was a resounding success with over 25 attendees, all the topics on the agenda were discussed and agreed upon.
We decided that to be able to increase the quality of the animals’ lives and ensure the laws are being applied and followed we need to be able to officially approach the government, to enable us to do this we need to be an officially recognised body ourselves.
It was therefore agreed by all present by a show of hands that the way forward would be to form an official association and have therefore scheduled a new meeting for the 12th April (Time and venue TBC).
We will now start ascertaining exactly what must be done, what we have to do, how we have to do it to get the process of forming the association started.
Yeliz and some of her influential friends (solicitors) and members of other existing animal rights groups in the TRNC have rewritten the Animal Welfare Laws and re-submitted to the TRNC Government. The rewritten laws have been processed through and passed the 1st of 2 approval stages within the government and are now in the 3rd and final stage before they are passed into law and printed in the official Gazette.
Yeliz has spoken to all her aforementioned friends and associates telling them what we are proposing to do and asking them if they would like to join us in our endeavours, some have said yes to joining with us, she still has to speak with the others.
I have today (16th March) had confirmation that “The Silent Ones” who were present last night wish to work together with us too.
If you wish to pass this update to anyone else you feel should be included in the circulation please feel free to do so.
Many thanks and kindest regards
Ralf Purcell
Email: ralf_ep@hotmail.com
I’m sorry I could not attend . This is something I feel very deeply about . I have tried to help so many strays. it’s heart breaking seeing starving animals everywhere . Injured Animals . Road kill. Animals who are poisoned by cruel individuals who have no compassion , Murderers.
Just because it’s an animal it is no different they have taken a life. The people that are trying to help I really don’t know what would happen if it was not for the work that you do . This really casts a shadow hear people don’t like to see this suffering when they come visit the island .
The amount of holiday makers I see crying about leaving the little stray they cared for while they came on holiday. The conversations I hear, Familys on holiday ,children pleading with their parents can we go feed the puppy’s down by the sea. It’s just hearbreaking. It is way out of hand .
Anyone who thinks that animals don’t have feelings, you are sadly mistaken , all they want is to belong and feel kindness and companionship. I just hope something good comes from the 15th March .
Hi Jane, Maybe we will see you at the next meeting on Friday 12 April, it would be lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much for your heart felt comments above. You like many of our friends here who are animal welfare activists feel exactly the same, that is why we do the tireless work we choose to do. We love animals & it breaks our hearts to see just how they are treated. Unfortunately it is the fault of the education system, mentality & mindset of some of the uneducated & ignorant people who are still living in the dark ages, it is our job to educate & enlighten them, which I hope to start at grassroots level in schools etc.
Another reason is the fact that dogs & cats are classed the same as ‘swine’ by many Muslims (An unclean Animal) which of course is completely untrue in this day & age. Additionally the religious mindset is ‘Allah wills it’ so & they will not interfere or intervene with nature & are set against sterilisation & that is the root cause & why we have so many strays. There are many individuals here that have taken it upon themselves to help the stray animals by fostering, adopting & feeding them, they also pay for the vets bills & the people do not do this for anything else except love & compassion for the animals.
My Wife has worked as a volunteer at the Famagusta shelter for over 5 years now, she helped design it, set it up & train the Belediye employees. The shelter has over 400 adult dogs & nearly 100 pups at all ages, she also helped set up FARC & has had great success re-homing by adoption to locals & within Europe over the years. Farc does not however let students adopt, the reason for this is that students are usually only here for a short period of time & when they leave the dogs may not be taken with them they could be given away or just abandoned, we are also at odds with the pet shops who illegally import different breeds of dogs for customers brought directly from abroad into the south of Cyprus – this has to stop.
FARC have set up a neutering & vaccination program & through the good hearts of our friends & registered charities in the UK & here have donated funds, blankets, toys, food & table top sales, enabling Farc to fully equip the shelter facilities with all the required veterinarian equipment for the two on site operating rooms, including washing & drying machines, dog swimming pools in all enclosures, Italian beds in the rehabilitation centre, outdoor kennels & basically everything else required to increase the quality of the dogs lives.
The TRNC Does in fact have a set of Animal Welfare Laws but unfortunately as with many other things here are just paid lip service to, that is something else we are going to change. We will continue to be the voices of the silent ones & strive to make changes for a better life for all of them which is truly what they deserve.
Many thanks & kindest regards
Ralf_E
Jane, please get in touch with me directly via our facebook page, perhaps you might like to come join us in our endeavours? Kindest regards