- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
Dog's life in Cyprus as man's best friend dumped
Dog shelters in Cyprus are overflowing in what some volunteers are calling a crisis caused by the abandonment of canines adopted during Covid as well as complications arising from Brexit.
"Shelters are filled to the brim," said Monica Mitsidou of Dog Rescue Cyprus.
Dog adoptions were made by many people "when they shouldn't have" during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mitsidou told the Cyprus News Agency, calling the situation "unprecedented".
During Cyprus' toughest restrictions aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus in 2020 and early 2021, dog-walking was one of the few reasons people were allowed to leave their homes.
Evita Charalambous, a volunteer at PAWS (Cyprus Association for the Protection and Care of Animals), blamed "the economic situation" and Brexit for fewer adoptions, saying Cyprus was facing a "massive problem".
But she also said people were failing to neuter their dogs, and pointed to difficulties finding pet-friendly apartments.
Volunteers say demand for Cypriot dog adoptions has plummeted, particularly in Britain, which is usually a top destination for pooches from the eastern Mediterranean island.
"Brexit affected us tremendously," said Constantina Constantinou, a volunteer at non-profit Saving Pound Dogs Cyprus (SPDC).
"The bureaucracy is much more complicated," she told AFP, and the dogs' travel costs have also increased sharply, making it "much more difficult" for Britons to take in dogs from EU member Cyprus.
More than 3,000 dogs are estimated to be housed in shelters across Cyprus.
On the outskirts of the capital Nicosia, a husky with a purple-and-black collar stared out from its pen at a sanctuary run by SPDC, as other dogs nearby barked or pawed the ground.
- 'Not the solution' -
At another shelter outside Nicosia, run by Simba Animal Aid Cyprus, several dogs played together in a large pen, while others sought shady refuge from the summer heat or lapped up water from a bucket.
Simba's Andreas Tsavellas, 43, said the number of strays "is always on the rise" due to "the economic crisis and other factors".
"We receive five to 20 dogs a week -- found as strays in the streets by the municipalities and then brought to us," he told AFP.
But he played down the idea that people adopted dogs during the height of Covid-19 restrictions as an excuse to go out, saying: "We haven't got enough data to prove that."
"We've always had cases of abandonment, not only during the pandemic," he said.
Volunteers have called on authorities to enforce legislation on animal welfare and to curb illegal breeding and dumping, often by hunters.
"The government must take serious decisions... and take action to make neutering (dogs) a law," said SPDC's Constantinou, adding that more checks were needed around importing canines.
Others said the current dog dilemma highlighted a different issue.
"Sending (dogs) abroad was not the solution," Charalambous from PAWS told the Cyprus News Agency.
"We were essentially sweeping the problem under the rug."
St.Ch.Baker--CPN