As an answer to the Cyprus Green Party and thousands of citizen’s criticisms, the Mayor of Strovolos tried to justify the Municipality’s recent decision about banning dogs from a large number of parks but also from Pediaios sidewalk, by referring to the need to maintain cleanliness in places where children are moving and playing.
We note that Mr. Savvides avoid to answer the question we asked as Greens that: We understand their decision for parks (although we disagree), but in Pediaios sidewalk, which is not a place where children usually move or play, why is this absurd ban been applied?
If the problem is the extra cost of policing and control or maintaining cleanliness, then the Strovolos Municipality should take care of registering the thousands of dogs that remain unregistered or renewing their yearly permit. The Municipality should also make sure to collect permit fees, having in mind that it offers the dog owners an actual service and not just banns. The permit fees collection from the Municipality will allow it to handle problems that occur from unscrupulous animal owners (e.g. as barking, abandonment etc).
