The island of cats has a cat problem. Officials in Cyprus, the small island nation in the eastern corner of the Mediterranean, estimate there is roughly one feral cat for every one of its 1 million inhabitants—though activists contend the actual population is hundreds of thousands higher. In late September, the island's parliamentary committee on the environment was told that an existing sterilization program is too limited to contain the burgeoning cat population; the AP reports the program conducts only about 2,000 sterilizations annually on a budget of just $117,000.
Appearing to heed calls for more funding, Environment Minister Maria Panayiotou announced on Oct. 4—World Animal Day—that the government would raise cat sterilization funding to $350,000 annually. The decision was hailed as a significant step forward, but Charalambos Theopemptou, chairman of the Parliamentary Environment Committee, warned against relying on money alone. "There has to be a plan," he said. Demetris Epaminondas, president of the Veterinary Association, said Cyprus' cat population can be brought under control in as few as four years if authorities cobble together a unified sterilization plan that would put private clinics at the forefront of the effort by offering free-of-charge neutering without all the red tape that complicates the process.
His association has proposed a plan that would identify major cat concentration centers where authorities can round them up and take them for sterilization at designated vets. The initiative includes the creation of a smartphone application that would allow anyone to help authorities locate such large cat concentrations. The state can avoid bearing the full cost of the program by setting up a fund where people and businesses can donate, according to Epaminondas. Tripling the sterilization budget, he said, could act as a significant incentive for more corporate donations. The cost of sterilizing a female feral cat in Cyprus is $64, which goes up to $140 for domesticated cats brought in by owners, as they receive more specialized care.
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Cyprus has a long history as a cat-loving nation where cat food dispensaries and clusters of tiny houses are a regular sight along popular footpaths. Two decades ago, French archaeologists unearthed what they believed to be the earliest evidence of a domesticated cat in a 9,500-year-old neolithic village. They found the bones of a cat close to the skeletal remains of a human, suggesting that they were buried together. Adding to this long history of human-feline connection is the 4th century legend of Saint Helen who, after finding the True Cross in the Holy Lands, brought over a few boatloads of cats to deal with a snake infestation. A monastery that serves as a feline safe haven, St. Nicholas of the Cats, still exists today.
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