Wag a tail-dogs get their own beach

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's popular holiday resort of Ayia Napa has introduced the island's first legal beach exclusively for animals after complaints it was becoming a dog's life for man's best friend.

Better known for all-night partying by Western tourists, the southeastern resort is now catering for dogs amid growing discontent that pooches had no place to cool off from the sweltering summer heat.

"We have seen lots of people taking their dogs for a walk since the establishment of the designated area, and we have been inundated by phone calls from happy pet owners thanking and congratulating us for this initiative," said Antonis Tsokkos, mayor of Ayia Napa.

Walking dogs on beaches has always been a cause for debate in Cyprus. It is prohibited in most areas, and people caught walking their dogs brave open disapproval or even hostility from other beachgoers.

Tsokkos said the designated area just west of the resort was a temporary one since the area has been earmarked as a yachting marina in future.

"It is not a problem because there is plenty of space. It will be moved a couple of hundred meters (yards) further down," Tsokkos told Reuters.

The stretch of beach called 'Louma' has from archaic times being recorded as a place where shepherds would take their flocks to bathe in the sea, Tsokkos said. Louma means bathing in the Cypriot dialect.

"In older times shepherds used to take sheep and goats there and dunk them in," said Tsokkos.

Local authorities across the island have been searching for suitable locations where dogs and their owners can enjoy the sun and sea without upsetting other beachgoers.

The need for designated animal beaches hit the headlines in June when a 50-year-old man and his dog were killed in an incident believed to have been triggered by the animal's presence on a beach. A man was arrested after the two were run over.

"This initiative has been a long time coming," said Greens party spokeswoman Ioanna Panayiotou. "The fact that no such beach existed had caused problems between dog owners and people who did not want dogs in the area.

"We believe that there should be a beach for dogs in each district," she said.

(Additional reporting by Nassos Stylianou)