Cyprus Courts: Punish the Unwarranted Attack on a Puppy. Justice for Thunder!
At 8PM of June 25th 2012, Stella Stylianou, founder of Argos Animal Sanctuary in Ormidhia, Cyprus, received a distressed phone call from a family in shock and tears at what they had just witnessed outside their door: the barbaric and unwarranted attack by a man on a pitpull puppy that left it bleeding, comatose and fighting for its life.
The story as relayed to Stella by eyewitnesses is as follows.
The Incident
In a neighbourhood in Agia Varvara, a Nicosia suburb, three stray dogs had been living in a field. Two of the dogs were of small breed and the third was a five month-old pitpull puppy. The strays were considered neighbourhood pets, cared for and looked after by the neighbourhood community. The community had purchased kennels and collars for them, had them deflead and wormed, and the children who adored these dogs played with them for hours on end on a daily basis.
June 25th was no different than any other day, one of the neighbourhood children, a little girl, had gone into the field to play with the dogs. The girl allegedly tripped and fell into a dry thorn bush and started crying. Her mother rushed over to her aid and picked her up and hurried her home. The accused (the little girl’s father) asked the mother what had happened who allegedly replied that the dog had bitten the child. Police investigations following the incident however verified that no bite marks were found on the child.
Eyewitness reports state that the accused went to the field and calculatedly called the puppy over to him, motioning at him in a deceptively playful manner. The puppy naturally approached the accused wagging his tail playfully, completely oblivious to the vicious beating he was about to receive. According to reports from the vet who examined Thunder after the attack, the five month-old puppy was left unconscious after an initial punch to the head and mouth, the force of which knocked out one of his puppy teeth and broke a second one. Despite this, the accused continued his vicious and unprovoked tirade of abuse, reportedly lifting the dog’s body into the air and repeatedly slamming it onto the edge of the pavement maniacally.
This heinous attack on a defenseless and harmless puppy was reportedly carried out in front of five minors and their parents, who were left stunned and shocked at the sight of the event. The children and their parents reportedly screamed in horror at the violent cruelty unfolding before their eyes and the oldest of the children, an 11-year old boy had to be taken to hospital suffering from hysteria and shock.
As for Thunder, when brought into surgery he was comatose, bleeding from the nose and hardly breathing. The vet had informed Stella that it was a miracle the five month-old puppy had even survived such a brutal beating. As the vet assessed Thunder, he found that he could neither see, hear or smell and his main concern was to keep Thunder immobile in case of any internal bleeding to the head. The vet had also determined that Thunder’s left hind leg was also broken as a result of the beating.
Shortly after the incident, police initiated legal proceedings against the accused. Stella Stylianou, stated “We will follow this case closely and demand justice for the animals and call for the severest of penalties. If not, then these bullies will think they have done nothing wrong and anarchy will reign. We will not stand by and constantly witness the violation of animals and their right to a life free of pain, suffering and abuse.”
The incident triggered a worldwide social media uproar which also lead to a mass protest outside of Nicosia Police Headquarters involving hundreds of participants on the 2nd of July 2012, on the day of the first court hearing of the case.
Still No Justice
It has been almost two years since the incident and the accused has still not been tried for his heinous crime. Inconceivably, all three court hearings since the beginning of the trial have been postponed at the request of the defense. This appears to be most likely an attempt by the accused’s lawyer to stall for time, perhaps in the hopes that the accused receiving a more lenient sentence due to the passing of time, and perhaps in the hopes that the memory of the incident eventually becomes less clear in the minds of eyewitnesses.
Enough is enough. We demand justice for Thunder. We demand the harshest punishment and penalties for animal abusers such as the accused. We demand that human beings such as these who demonstrate complete disregard for the rights of animals be denied the right to be responsible for their well-being. We demand that reformations in Cyprus law are made to safeguard the rights of animals, enforce strict punishment, and prevent future incidents such as these from ever occurring again. The next court hearing is scheduled on the 7th of April, 2014. Please sign this petition and help us get justice for Thunder!
#justiceforthunder