The Animal Party on Sunday called for authorities to re-examine the “irrational and illegal use of guns by irresponsible and dangerous citizens” after two dogs were shot by a man in Kouklia village on Saturday after they killed three of his rabbits.

A 62-year-old was arrested for shooting dead a neighbour’s dog and injuring another after he said the dogs killed three of his rabbits. The Animal Party said the second dog subsequently died.

around 5.30pm on Saturday, a 53-year-old resident of the village found one of his dogs, a female, injured near his home and reported it to police. Officers from the local police station went to the scene and found the second dog dead in a neighbour’s yard, around 150 metres away from the owner’s home.

The 62-year-old owner of the house where the dead dog, a male, was found, allegedly claimed that the two dogs entered his yard and killed his rabbits. He said he had tried to get them to leave by throwing water on them but they became aggressive and fearing they would attack him, shot them with his hunting gun.

The first dead dog and three dead rabbits were taken by the veterinary services. A necropsy on the dead animal found it had been killed by shotgun pellets.

The three rabbits were found to have dog bites.

The Animal Party condemned the incident and said the authorities must address the consequences of allowing people to have guns in their homes to “shoot as they please”.

“The complaints that have lately come to the party about innocent animals being shot are rising,” it said in a statement.

“Some people even use them in densely populated areas to kill cats, dogs, or other creatures they are unnecessarily annoyed with and want to kill.”

The party said that on a number of occasions it had called on the justice minister and chief of police to be proactive on the use of firearms and to keep tighter controls on those who own them “rather than always running after tragic events to criminalise and punish”.

“Again we condemn such atrocities and unreasonable behaviours against animals. We call upon animal owners to assume their responsibilities and comply with the law on the protection and care of their animals. Animals are simply victims of human irresponsibility and they must be treated as such, and not as perpetrators.”





