We call for 'Billy's Law' to end the cruelty, torture and abuse of animals in Cyprus

At 30/6/2015 -  Still no Justice for Billy and no significant improvement on the whole animal welfare issue, animals are suffering EVERY DAY!      Therefore, the petition has been re-activated and will be shared as much as possible Internationally.  We are also registering this Petition and will deliver it along with supporting information to the European Parliament in Brussels.   As well as submitting the petition as per procedure we will have also have a copy hand delivered for maxim publicity.  We charge that the Cyprus Government fall short of their legal obligations in relation to EU Animal Welfare laws and we will also seek facts and figures pertaining to EU money granted specifically for Animal Welfare use.   Further, copies of the Petition will also be delivered by hand to the Cypriot Embassies in as many different countries as we can arrange - local press and Media in each country will be alerted.  

NOTHING HAS CHANGED - IN FACT IT APPEARS TO BE GETTING WORSE.  WE WAITED A YEAR. ACTION IS NOW REQUIRED. 

This time last year Billy was in the clinic fighting for his life before passing away on 4th of July, an uproar followed and changes were expected.    Nothing would happen overnight so we were patient.   In the meantime we worked quietly in the background raising awareness, gathering information and learning as much as we could to help effect change.  One year on, what has changed NOTHING MUCH,  in fact things appear to be worse.  Three shocking cases in he last few weeks alone: 

Case 1 -17 Hunting dogs just left to starve to death - slow painful deaths!

http://cyprus-mail.com/2015/06/19/17-hunting-dogs-found-dead-at-aradippou-farm/

Case 2 - Amber, a little foster dog, shot in her own yard by a neighbour who objected to her! The terrified family were still at home and had to take cover in their house, children were present!   Who in their right mind thinks they can get away with this

Case 3 - Max A Special Needs Hearing Dog Stabbed in front of his terrified owner  again, who in heir right mind thinks they can get away with this

http://cyprus-mail.com/2015/06/22/man-charged-after-stabbing-dog-in-a-panic/

In general nothing much has changed. Most of the dog pounds are still a disgrace, some are not even pounds just a collection of cages!      In most cases proper records are not being kept, dogs are 'disappearing' from some locked pounds!   It is only through the efforts of the volunteers that the dogs get any proper help and care.    

So many Hunting dogs are left hungry and in filthy cages, we have seen many in the last few weeks were there was NO WATER and in some cases the water was lime green!  Most of these dogs are kept locked up constantly and are totally broken in spirit or are crazed with frustration and loneliness, we are haunted by what we have seen!!  (and we haven't even started on the farm animals yet) 

The number of cats and kittens are increasing, the only solution to this is a full scale Spay/Neuter programme, did the Government allocate any extra money to this??? NO!! so WE volunteers are left to deal with starving and sick animals not to mention distressed tourists who are very upset at witnessing the state of the animals yet IDIOTS still bury their heads in the sand and say it's not a problem, in fact some MORONS blame us, the animal activists for causing bad publicity! Utter morons, they are doing NOTHING to help the problem and accuse US of causing bad publicity for Cyprus - what nonsense! The tourists see it for themselves! We are addressing the problem and fighting to improve things! Many of us could just leave but we are staying to fight for the animals and for Cyprus, what are they doing to help??? 

Animal cruelty and neglect is unfortunately a world wide problem but here is Cyprus the problem is rife and it is the stinking, rotten system which by default, allows it.   Very, very few offenders are ever prosecuted, it is very rare!   Much of the fault is the arrogance and corruption which is common in local (and National) Government and village communities, where individual who 'know' someone think they are above the law and have 'friends' who 'take care of things' - this is a double edged sword as it not only allows offenders to do as they please but it stops decent, honest citizens making complaints or following them through due to fear of the consequences.  The three cases noted above all prove this point, these offenders all seem to expect to be above the law

It is very important to note that many Cypriot people are animal lovers and are against animal cruelty.   Thousands of Cypriots signed this petition last year, signatures flooded in from all over Cyprus, we saw a constant stream of Cypriot names signing.  In the protests that followed the majority of the people protesting were Cypriots themselves, this can clearly be seen in the videos and pictures taken at the time.  Many of the animal welfare volunteers are Cypriots, in fact as we have said before, most of our own fellow volunteers are Cypriots themselves

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UPDATE 2/7/2014

WE NOW CALL FOR ‘BILLY’S LAW’ a simple Fast Track Legislation based on’ Patrick’s Law’ in the USA and THANK each and EVERYONE of you because YOU already made a difference by signing this petition!!!!  PLS SHARE THE UPDATE!!  The President of Cyprus and the Cyprus Tourist Organisation PUBLICLY condemned what happened to Billy – this is such a positive move, FINALLY we feel  there is a chance for change so PLEASE SHARE the petition with as many as you can as we CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Poor Billy is still in a coma but has shown SLIGHT improvements, please keep praying for him but this petition is NOT just for Billy, it is for all the “Billys“ who have suffered and died  in agony!!!  WE MUST  STOP THIS HAPPENING AGAIN! 

On the strength of this petition which is backed by more than 23,000 good people (at 2/7/2014),

We demand immediate action (no more promises or blah blah) ACTION – POSITIVE ACTION NOW!

Amongst our suggestions are:  IMMEDIATE Setting up of a Working Party to look at measures including but not limited to:

EVERY CRUELTY, NEGLECT AND ABUSE case reported to Police to have a reference number so that the case can be tracked and also recorded in a National Database – statistics to be publicly published   for eg if 100 cases are reported we want to know how many of those were successfully investigated and which were prosecuted  - this will ensure effectiveness

Every Municipality/Village etc to have Animal Welfare Officers who will be the point of contact for all animal related concerns

All Hotels /Large Supermarkets/Business Parks etc  ( just as an example of places where stray animals gather) to have Neutering Schemes in Place and Feeding Stations set up – this way the animals are taken care of and are not being seen as a nuisance, many tourists love to feed the animals and will see this as a POSITIVE move for Cyprus.   Each such place to pay a small bond each year to cover vet bills etc (this will not be a large amount so there is no excuse)

Government to provide funding to assist with neutering the stray colonies and provide DECENT holding facilities for animals, shelters not pounds  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

'Little Billly' a SMALL DEFENCELESS PUPPY! was deliberately caught and thrown into a commercial cardboard crushing machine on the orders of the manager of a large hotel in Protaras, Cyprus.  The agonised, piercing screams of this helpless little soul were heard by horrified tourists, CAN YOU IMAGINE HIS AGONY AND UTTER TERROR!!! as the heavy mechanisms crushed his little neglected body!!!  He is clearly a stray and had been wandering around the hotel for some days (at least)    Instead of calling animal welfare or even the dog pound or alerting the municipality as a RESPONSIBLE person would do,  this manager had his staff chase the terrified animal for days, finally catching him and lifting him into the crusher.  

This barbarity is unacceptable and I firmly believe that these incidents do not happen in isolation.  Have other animals been disposed of in this way?  We must stop this happening again; a CLEAR message must go out to those who abuse animals that this is NOT acceptable!    Many hotels have a very bad reputation for 'dealing' with the animals PLEASE STOP THIS HAPPENING AGAIN.  The whole issue of animal cruelty and neglect must be addressed and many people work tirelessly to address this but still it continues.  

 In this particular case it is of grave concern that a Hotel Manager, who is responsible for the Health, Safety and Welfare of hundreds of guests and many staff, should act like this.  It begs the question - should such a person be in this position?   As well as the utter barbarity.  he showed extremely poor management,  how hard would it have been to call the dog pound or animal welfare???

In a trusted, responsible position one should be expected to behave accordingly, this person acted like a savage and encouraged his staff to do the same.   The excuse reportedly given to the police was that they thought the dog was dead, NONSENSE! but even if it was, is it responsible behaviour or even legal or hygienic to crush an animal and mix it with cardboard waste (especially in a very hot country!!)    This incident in itself is not the reason for this petition; it is the fact that this can even happen in a civilised country!   Many despicable acts of cruelty are seen as the norm, it has to stop!   

Little Billy is now in a coma in a local vet clinic where the staff are working hard to help him PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS LITTLE BABY who has never had a decent home or love and care.  This picture was taken by a tourist who witnessed the incident and went to visit Little Billy today (25/6/2014)       

This incident SHAMES CYPRUS and this hotel manager SHAMES his employers and does a great disservice to all the hard working hotel staff and management who are responsible people.  The majority of hotel staff in Eastern Cyprus only have work for apprx 6 months of the year (in the summer season) most of them work very hard, they do not deserve a bad reputation.  Also, there are a small number of hotels who actively help the animals and have responsibly addressed the animal related problems for e.g. by way of neutering campaigns and providing feeding stations etc they do not deserve to be tarnishes by the behaviour of this savage.     T

The large majority of Cypriots are friendly, decent, hospitable people, they do not deserve this shame or the negative impact that this behaviour has on tourism.   the fact that this affects tourism is a very important factor, it is perhaps the only reason that certain bodies will even pay attention! So many tourists complain about the neglect and treatment of the animals in Cyprus.   Cyprus must wake up and address this problem! No living creature should ever be treated in this way!   PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION FOR THE SAKE OF ALL ANIMALS IN CYPRUS and to demand justice for Little Billy - Thank you