Volunteers call for help to control the overpopulation of cats in Cyprus | Scientist

“Here you are, Boureka Mo,” he mutters using the Cypriot term for “endearment,” as the animals spin between his legs and wait for him to take food from the back of his truck to eat.

Ayiomamitis is one of several volunteers striving to feed thousands of stray cats on a Mediterranean island Cyprus.

“There has never been an official count, but based on our own assessment, we can say the number of cats equals the island’s human population, at the very least. They could get closer to a million, which is a rough estimate,” said Ayiomamitis, who feeds up to 200 cats daily at various locations around the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, and he is the president of the Cat PAWS Association.

If there is no serious intervention to control the population, we will have a big problem. It really is a big problem. There are neighborhoods where some feed, others may not want, shed poison, and fights break out between neighbors, that’s not true, there are ways to deal with it, the first and most important thing I said, is that there is a state sterilization program,” he said.

Cyprus’ association with cats goes back thousands of years. In 2004, French archaeologists reported what was then described as the oldest historical record of cat domestication, in a 9,500-year-old cemetery.

In AD 400, Helen of Constantinople would send boats full of cats to the island to hunt venomous snakes.

At a cat sanctuary 50 miles from the capital, volunteers find stray cats and kittens are thrown off the fence almost daily.

Malcolm’s Cats, a sanctuary named after founder Malcolm C.P. Stevenson, is home to about 200 cats. Here, they are kept in a safe and clean environment with access to food and vets.

About 100 people are moved each year, but arrivals easily outnumber departures.

“Lots of unsterilized and neutered cats means there are too many kittens each year. People are constantly calling us and playing cats outside. There are limits to what we can do to help these cats,” said David Fender, Director of Operations and President of the Malcolm Cat Protection Society. “.

In recent years, the state has allocated €75,000 (just over R$440,000) annually to sterilize cats. This year’s program began on June 1, but as the cat population increased, Fender and Ayiomamitis considered it a drop in the ocean.

The sanctuary sits on the edge of a sprawling peninsula on the southern tip of Cyprus, which has strong animal connections. A nearby monastery is dedicated to “São Nicolao dos Gatos” and is said to have two bells; One calls for people to pray and the other for cats.