I havent hurd anything about this before but we are thinking into moving to Cyprus very soon but we dont know what to do with our dog. My cousin normally looks after him while were on holiday but recently has just got her own dog and i dont know what to do with ours weve had him for nearly 12 years and it will be heartbreaking as you said to leave him
Any idea's anyone?!

CourtneeLouise.x

not heard it about cyprus, my mates dad, had passport for his dog, how mad is that, and he ad a chip, they now live in france x

Haha!
that might sound mad but thats a good idea!

CourtneeLouise.x

In general all pets as distinct from unowned dogs/cats etc need either a microchip or to be tatooed in the ear with an identification number linking the animal with an owner (someone who will take responsibility for the animal). It is also necessary to have a 'pet passport' which proves that the animal has had the necessary vaccinations given by a professional veterinarian, without which the animal cannot cross international borders. I would check with what used to be DEFRA (government department) and your local vet well in advance of your date of travel, because some vaccinations need to be given just before departure, and some beforehand to have had time to 'work' before your pet travels. You may also like to discuss the pros and cons of sedation during travel with your vet as your dog may find travelling very stressful. All the very best, Alsa xxxxxx

If you're a dog lover and visiting Cyprus without your pet, you can always visit CAPCA. They're an animal charity located just off the B6 between Paphos and the airport. They are always in need of volunteers to take the dogs for walks. Their website is http://www.dogscyprus.org.

I live in Cyprus with my husband. We are originally from Lancashire and we brought with us our 2 cats and a dog when we came out in 2004.

We now have another dog - I found a rottweiler bitch puppy last April, tied up to a fence with electricity cable. She was about 12 or 14wks old at the time and it was in the middle of the daytime, with no food or water close by. Needless to say, she came home with me and we had her checked at the vets to see if she was identichipped and also reported her at 2 police stations. She is now spayed and lives happily with our other dog and cats.

Unfortunately, there is a lethal poison used fairly regularly in Cyprus. It's called Lannate and can kill within 20 minutes but more often than not, it can take up to 2hrs for an animal to die if it ingests the poison. It has no smell and is often put into meat or food and left out for unsuspecting animals.

The Cypriots are not really animal friendly and mainly use dogs for guarding or hunting. The dogs are often shut in cages with a little food and water and taken hunting during the season on Weds afternoons and Sundays. The season is almost finished and at this time of year, we see many stray dogs where the hunters have abandoned them because the dog probably didn't perform well enough.

However, this said - they are slowly getting used to us ex-pats as animal lovers as more and more of us join their communities. We live in a Cypriot residential street in one of the suburbs of Limassol and pretty much every household has either a dog or cat of some sort. We now see them taking their dogs for walks and our neighbour behind us - actually tries to rehome strays.

We've just heard in the last day or so that Lannate will soon become a thing of the past as the EU have now banned the sale of the stuff from next year. A lot of farmers use it as a pesticide for their crops but some nasty folk use it to get rid of barking dogs etc. There have been lots of petitions signed to get rid of the stuff once and for all. Happily, it looks like it may have worked in our favour!

If you are considering bringing your pets - try to suss out the neighbourhood before you commit to taking a property. See if the locals have their own pets or if you are in an ex-pat neighbourhood, it's unlikely you will be affected.

You can buy poison kits from your veterinary clinic, which has to be administered immediately you notice the signs. But the best advice is - don't let your dog run loose off the lead and don't let him/her eat stuff off the floor. If you have a dog that is a scavenger, muzzle him/her when you take them for a walk. Not nice, I know - but it's better to be safe than sorry.

The majority of pets stay safe but we do hear bad things, like all news - you only ever hear the bad stuff.... The drivers are a menace and will speed on the narrowest of streets so it's more likely you will find an animal has been killed by a car than poisoned

Keep your wits about you and use your common sense - and you won't go far wrong. There are many scaremongers about too, and we are only a small island so many things do get taken out of proportion.

Visit some of the Cyprus forums and take heed of the comments there.... we have forums dedicated to Paphos (Cyprus Living and also there is a new one called Paphos People), Limassol forum is BFC Trading Post Cyprus Limassol Living and there is also one for the East Coast (Ayia Napa & Protaras). There is another forum which is very political so best to take comments there with a pinch of salt as a simple question can be turned into a political thread (Cyprus-Forum). For good, all round information try Cyprus AngloInfo.

All of the above can be found using "Google" without difficulty.

And - there is no way we would have come to Cyprus and left our animals behind, so I know how your sister feels.

CwB

thanks so much for that detailed answer. Sounds like a bit better news. Did your dog acclimatise easily enough? that is another concern for her as they will have to go out in July(sorry for adding more questions )

Hi

We came in March so he had time to acclimatise for the 1st summer (a bit) - but he still found it hot and panted a fair bit.

The cats just seemed to find the best spots in the summer and winter (but then, cats are SMART)

The 2nd summer, he was fine and the following winter, we found him following the sun round and sleeping in front of windows where the warm sun came through

The rotty was so hot all last summer and was fine over winter - she will be better this time too.

It seems to take a full season for them to get accustomed. Same as us really! The winter definitely feels cold to us, even though it rarely gets below double figures (centigrade) in the winter during daytime and for us at sea level - never below zero

CwB

sounds ok then I hope she feels able to take her dog out now.

she is definitely taking her dog out now- but so far the price comes in at £1200 to transport her there. Sister has a house in Trimithousa so plenty of expats around her with their own pets.