Illustration of stray cats.

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Casey Christopher / REX

Cat abandonment has increased in Cyprus since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the Tala Cats shelter, located not far from the town of Paphos, volunteers have noted an increase of about 30% in the abandonment of domestic cats.

Faced with economic difficulties, expatriates or binationals leave without taking their animal, according to the director of the refuge.

“People right now just don't have any money,” she explains.

It is very expensive to transport a cat to another country.

The abandonments are also said to be due to Cypriots who can no longer pay for food or veterinary expenses for their animals.

🐈🇨🇾In Cyprus, the abandonment of cats is increasing with the pandemic #AFP pic.twitter.com/56aX2yow6S

- Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) January 17, 2021

Transport and adoption complicated by Covid-19

Cats thus abandoned "do not know how to survive", explains the director, specifying that many let themselves die.

A second national lockdown came into effect on January 10 because of the Covid-19.

The closure of restaurants, privileged places for cats in search of food, has increased the misery of felines put on the streets.

Among the cats hosted in shelters, a certain number were sent abroad for adoption.

Their fate was also complicated because of the lack of planes and the cost of such transport for associations.

The regular closure of shelters as part of health measures has also made it more difficult for residents of the island to adopt them.

A thousand-year-old history

Cyprus now has more cats than inhabitants.

Sterilization is essential to control the population.

But state programs are poorly implemented and dedicated funds (75,000 euros in 2020) insufficient, according to veterinarians.

For its part, the Ministry of Agriculture ensures that its sterilization program is "effective" although it can be improved.

Cats have always been present in Cyprus.

The traces attesting to their domestication are the oldest ever found, including in Pharaonic Egypt.

In 2004, archaeologists discovered the remains of a cat and a man buried together some 9,500 years ago in a Neolithic village, 1,500 years before the previous record-breaking discovery of a cat jaw.

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