By Natalie Hami
October 2, 2011

full article and comments here: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/animal-rights/joining-together-end-animal-cruelty/20111002

ANIMAL LOVERS and those against animal cruelty are urged to join in a peaceful protest to be held next Saturday, October 8, in Larnaca as part of a �World Event to end Animal Cruelty.�

According to Andrea Barlow who is helping organise the event, along with a small team of people, the meeting point is at the McKenzie end of the Sandcastle Hotel at 5.30pm.

�We�re going to light a lamp of hope for all abused animals,� said Barlow, who expects about 25 people to attend the event, according to their Facebook page. �The lighting of the lamps will signify remembering all the animals that have been abused,� she added.

The protest will run along the Phinikoudes beach front and end at Larnaca marina where candles and lamps will be lit. Barlow however reassures that the event will be peaceful.� We won�t be shouting our heads off or anything like that,� she said.

This is the first of its kind event in Cyprus but Barlow has high hopes that it will be organised every year from now on. Barlow said that a number of MPs had been invited so that they can present a letter targeting issues that they believe are not being addressed.

Barlow is confident that the protest will bring about results in the sense that people who were afraid of speaking out before about cases of animal abuse will feel more self-assured in talking about it in the future. However, she does feel that education starting from a young age is vital.

Another issue that Barlow hopes to tackle, as part of another organisation that she is involved with - the Cyprus Animal Liberation Front - is the continuing problem of neglect of farm animals. �Farm animals are being left in the sun; we�re trying to work with the government because animals need water,� she said.

She cited a case that has been ongoing for the last two years, without sign of a prosecution, in the Larnaca area of a man who was repeatedly was allowed to keep various animals that just kept dying.

�Animals are dying and people are getting tired of finding them on the side of the motorway,� said Barlow who said that although Cyprus had some very good laws, the problem was they were not being implemented.

Barlow feels sure that if the public was made aware of the laws they would feel confident in speaking out on animal cruelty.

More information on the protest can be found on the Esdaw-Cyprus Facebook page. The Front also has a page on Facebook.