The Nicosia Dog Shelter was established in 1990 as a registered charity. We accommodate, at any one time, 300 homeless dogs of all shapes, sizes and lineage, in kennels situated on a piece of land in Nicosia. We take in and care for stray and unwanted dogs which are neutered and rehomed. We consider all of these to be homeable as any very old, sick or dangerous dogs are humanely destroyed.

The Nicosia Dog Shelter has been officially recognised by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to which Society we are affiliated. We are also included in the official directory of animal welfare organisations of the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

The costs of running and maintaining the kennels, wages, veterinary fees , feeding and caring for the dogs are met from donations and funds raised by volunteers as we receive no assistance whatsoever from any official body. We run a Charity Shop which sells donated items, thus providing an income which helps to meet the expenses of the kennels.

Dogs in Cyprus generally receive very bad publicity and consequently there is an increasing number of dogs turned out to roam and to fend for themselves, especially during holiday periods. Misguided and irresponsible owners, whether from ignorance, fecklessness, lack of money, or for whatever reason do not spay their bitches, and it does not take much more than simple arithmetic to see that if a bitch has a litter of 10 puppies twice a year and if half of those are females within six months we can have 100 unwanted puppies. No provision is made for this situation.

Neither the Police, nor the Municipalities have facilities to collect and keep dogs until their owners can be traced or until they can be humanely destroyed in accordance with the law. It seems that the dog shelters are expected to shoulder this unending burden with a constantly increasing number of unwanted dogs and puppies being handed over to the Shelter. Let us not forget that the dog shelters in Cyprus are run by volunteers and these volunteers are expected to care for these animals which they grow to love, but for lack of homes they are sometimes forced, eventually, to put them to sleep.

Several years ago we sought help from the Government of Cyprus and we were promised a piece of land for new kennels, thus enabling us to continue our work which is providing a valuable and very essential service for Nicosia. Unfortunately, this has not yet materialised. As well as needing funds to run and maintain the existing Shelter, we have to look to the future and make every effort to raise enough money to be able to start building a properly designed new shelter with a greater number of kennels and more facilities for the dogs and volunteers.