THE Animal Party has welcomed a probe ordered by the agriculture minister into the killing by the state vet services of a dog who had bitten a nine-year-old boy almost two weeks ago in a Nicosia district school.

The party said in an announcement that the incident occurred on December 17 when a pit bull entered a school yard in Dhali and bit the child. The boy was treated at the Nicosia hospital and discharged.

The dog, the party said, was euthanised by the vet services four days later.

Agriculture Minister, Costas Kadis has ordered an administrative probe into whether the vet services had followed all legal procedures before putting the dog down, the party said.

The Animal Party, following their own investigation, said that they found that a number of questions needed to be answered concerning the incident.

Despite the fact the dog had no microchip it was believed it had an owner.

“The dog, based on the law had to be kept at the Dhali municipality’s shelter for 15 days. If its owner was not found, then, usually, an effort is made for it to be adopted,” the party said.

The dog in question however, was euthanised four days after it was captured and not in 15 days. Authorities are allowed to put down stray or abandoned dogs 15 days after they were found if their owner is not located.

The party also said that the vet services ought to clarify if the dog was assessed and found to be aggressive before being put down and if it was a dangerous breed.

At the moment, four dog breeds are currently on the dangerous breeds list in Cyprus and importing and owning them is banned. The ban covers the Αmerican Pit Bull, the Japanese Tossa, the Dogo Argentino and the Fila Brazileiro dog breeds.

Those who owned one of those breeds before the law was passed in 2002 had to spay or neuter them to avoid further breeding.

“Why did the vet services rush to euthanise the dog without waiting for the legal 15-day period to expire?” the party asked.

The party also wants to know why the incident was only reported about a week after it took place and raised a question as to the responsibility of the local authority in question in relation to the law on dogs.

It also asks how the dog was able to enter the school yard and raised the issue of lack of sufficient security measures in schools.

The party said that it is waiting for the results of the probe ordered by Kadis.





