Meow meow here, meow meow there!

For us in India, stray dogs and the way in which they create a ruckus in the night is almost a part-of-life experience; we all have gone through it at some time or other.  And at times like these, when the sleep is disturbed, you often wonder if any other country in the world goes through what you go through!

Well, good news. There are scores of countries where this does happen and it came as a surprise to know that Cyprus, which is a part of the EU, faces a similar problem but the issue is cats not dogs.

Some 1700 years ago, the Roman empress then got cats from elsewhere into the country to counter the menace of snakes. Today, the cats are million times more and their population boom is indeed a cause of worry. How did happen? When austerity measures after the crash of 2008 were announced, their Govt decided to cut down the Budget allocated towards sterilization. Post then, no cats or even dogs are sterilized. Thus one female ends up producing more than 6-8 kittens at a time. There are scores of volunteers who have taken it upon themselves to feed and take care of these stray cats. But the number is so huge that volunteers themselves are today grappling under the pressure of so many cats.

And you thought dogs were a problem!