Cyprus’s stray cat population has surpassed 2 million — more than double the island’s human population of under 1 million — according to a new scientific study that warns of a deepening animal-welfare and population-management crisis.
The research, by Jamie L. DeLeeuw and Harry Eckman and published in Frontiers in Animal Science, draws on extensive interviews with 44 professionals and volunteers in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal. It paints a bleak picture: no central planning, responsibility quietly shifted onto exhausted volunteers, and existing measures failing to halt the rapid rise in stray numbers.
The figures potentially place Cyprus first worldwide for the ratio of stray cats to residents.
Why the problem persists
Researchers say the failure to control stray cat populations across southern Europe is not due to a lack of technical knowledge. Instead, they point to institutional weaknesses, inadequate funding and poor coordination.
The warm eastern Mediterranean climate, combined with temporary feeding by summer visitors, creates ideal conditions for uncontrolled breeding.
For the animals the reality is harsh. Professionals report neonatal mortality of 50–75% in unmanaged colonies, while thousands of cats die each autumn from starvation, disease or poisoned bait.
The study introduces the concept of “symbolic governance” — the gap between laws on paper and enforcement in practice.
In Cyprus the state has effectively left management to volunteers, NGOs and concerned citizens, many of whom pay substantial veterinary costs themselves. The annual state allocation of €100,000 for sterilisations is described by experts as “a drop in the ocean,” enough for only about 2,200 procedures a year — negligible against the scale of the problem.
Although the government decided to triple the fund to €300,000 for 2026, Veterinary Services were unable to implement the increase because of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
In Greece the ARGOS programme under Law 4830/2021 was widely described by participants as a “ghost” system: ambitious provisions, including mandatory microchipping and registration of unowned cats at sterilisation, often go unenforced.
What the study recommends
Researchers call for:
- Multi-year, significantly increased state funding rather than one-off allocations
- Large-scale, scientifically planned Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programmes with GIS colony mapping
- Institutional support for caregivers and free access to veterinary services
- Public education and promotion of early/paediatric sterilisation
Without geographically targeted, high-intensity sterilisation covering at least 80% of cats in a given area, funding is largely wasted.
New island-wide plan
Under mounting pressure, Veterinary Services announced in June the launch of the Island-wide Stray Cat Sterilisation Plan for 2026, part of the Integrated Framework for the Protection and Welfare of Animals.
District Veterinary Offices are implementing it in cooperation with District Animal Welfare Committees, local authorities and registered animal-welfare organisations. Unregistered volunteer groups may participate only through these official channels.
The state has invited expressions of interest from private veterinarians with suitably equipped clinics, aiming for an even distribution of sterilisations.
Both animal-welfare organisations and the study’s authors stress that lasting progress requires a drastic increase in funding and sustained planning of at least seven years if Cyprus is to escape its negative record.
Source: Based on reporting of the study by DeLeeuw & Eckman in Frontiers in Animal Science and related statements from Cypriot Veterinary Services.