Over €351,000 have been made available over the past five years for stray cats to get sterilized, Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis has said in a reply letter.
He was asked about it by the Green Party which is concerned about Cyprus’ staggering stray cat population that has long troubled animal welfare activists who fear for their wellbeing.
Last year, the Ministry has announced a stray cat sterilisation programme and called on vets and animal NGOs to sign up.
For the current year, the amount for sterilizations increased from €75,000 to €100,000 with 83 veterinarians participating in the program. They will get, on average, €4,229 each.
In the period 2017-2021, a total of 7,287 cat sterilizations took place costing, on average, €48 each. The sterilization of each cat costs €29.41 plus 19% VAT, while the sterilization of each cat costs €46.22.
However, in his response the Minister points out that the Veterinary Services do not have data on the exact number of stray cats.
That’s why, he noted, with the contribution of the Local Government Authorities as well, efforts are now underway to map first the areas in which there is an increased problem and then to derive the necessary assessment per district and for the whole island.
