Spaying and Neutering Programs Northern Cyprus – NetAP

Stray Animals / Spaying and Neutering in Northern Cyprus

In February 2023, we received a desperate call for help from Northern Cyprus. The earthquake catastrophe in Turkey and Syria had shaken the world and Northern Cyprus was also indirectly affected by this crisis. In this small part of the island of Cyprus, which is recognized by Turkey as a republic, the situation for animals is more than precarious. Animal shelters are completely overcrowded, some with injured and seriously ill animals, there is far too little neutering, food is scarce or non-existent and medical care is desolate. The little money that was available for local animal welfare has now also been diverted to humanitarian aid for the earthquake victims in Turkey.

After we had immediately provided first aid, we contacted the head of the veterinary authority with the help of a local animal welfare activist and planned a first castration mission on site with the aim of getting an idea of the situation, castrating the first animals and, if possible, training local vets in minimally invasive castration techniques.

From April 3 to 6, a team led by Dr. Lisa Goldinger worked on site. During these four days, we visited animal shelters, held talks, trained vets, neutered 103 dogs and cats and carried out a few other procedures, made plans, organized, improvised and tried to understand the situation of the animals in the region as comprehensively as possible. Rarely have we been so appreciated as in this region of the world. The head of the veterinary authority, Burak Toksoy, had organized everything we needed for the castrations in advance. He had also invited local vets, TPAs and students to take part in the campaign in order to promote the exchange of experience and enable us to pass on some field-tested techniques to our colleagues.

We also received a warm welcome at all the animal shelters we visited. We found an open door everywhere. Even the First Lady Sibel Tatar did not miss the opportunity to visit one of the two teams to get an idea of our work.

We worked at two locations because we like to separate dogs and cats for neutering. For cats, dogs cause additional stress in what is already a tense situation for the animals. And ultimately we want the best for all our patients. On the last working day, the town of Girne took the opportunity to thank us personally for our efforts and present us with a certificate.

As a result, we made numerous structural improvements to the animal shelters and provided essential vaccinations.

From June 2 to 4, 2023, we once again spayed and neutered on site. Once again, the head of the veterinary authority had organized everything our team needed in advance to ensure everything ran smoothly. 88 dogs (63 females, 65 males) were spayed and neutered. The focus was on training motivated local colleagues so that they could adopt the minimally invasive technique that we use. The transfer of knowledge and exchange of experience are extremely important to us and we are always delighted to see so much interest. It was particularly pleasing that we had anesthetists from the Veterinary Hospital of Zurich with us. They worked hand in hand with the surgeons in a highly professional and efficient manner and ensured perfect anesthesia.

The local animal welfare activists were very happy about our renewed support. The mayor of the town of Lefkosa even came by in person to thank the team.

From 1 July 2023, we were able to implement an ongoing castration program for dogs and cats with local veterinarians. With regular on-site missions, we ensure constant monitoring and further development of the program.