MISSING SIRIUS SHELTER PUPPIES FOUND

 Cyprus Mail 26 August 2020 - by Peter Michael

Fred, one of the four stolen puppies

Four puppies stolen form a dog shelter on Sunday were found on Monday evening by a passer-by, the shelter announced on Tuesday after the dogs were seen by a veterinarian.

The puppies, Barney, Wilma, Betty, and Fred were found by Zach Hadjicosta on his way home from work, in a field near the shelter in Moni, Limassol on Monday night.

“The puppies were incredibly thirsty and hungry and shaken up but not injured,” the shelter said in a Facebook post.

The Sirius Dog Shelter, where the puppies were staying ahead of their journey to their new owners in the UK, were taken to a veterinarian as soon as they were found. They had their temperatures taken, had blood tests done, vaccines and were microchipped.

“They are one step closer to joining their families thanks to all of you,” the shelter said in a post on social media.

The volunteers thanked Hadjicosta for finding the dogs and said he would be receiving the reward of €1,000, they promised.

The reward was made possible by pledges and donations.

On Monday, Shelter secretary and adoptions manager Marianna Philippidou had also pointed to a similar incident which unfolded in June in Paphos, at the Paws dog shelter in Paphos when three dogs were stolen. Paws have had more than one theft of dogs this year.

Philippidou said when the dogs from Sirius went missing police did not appear to be take the incident seriously. When she called them, she was initially told that they do not take reports on a Sunday.