MSPCA has said that it hopes animals and animal NGOs will receive attention under either administration.

Having been in operation in Malta since the early 1900s, the Malta Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, said that it has seen Malta’s policies on animals fluctuate considerably throughout the years.

“Originating in an era when animal laws merely regulate control and nuisance aspects, MSPCA knows all too well how hard it has been for many decades to have a policy framework that allows animals the protection they deserve.” it said.

The MSPCA added that some recent laws, in effect, “reduce the autonomy of shelters owned by NGOs to operate in the best interest of the welfare of the animal they house by imposing procedures which may at times run counter to veterinary advice for particular animals.”

MSPCA continued by saying that it has for some time been on the search for alternative location “where a state of the art animal shelter can be developed and an expanded service offered to vulnerable animals and responsible owners, only to be disappointed over and over,” it said.

The Animal Welfare Act of 2002 and the many additions to it such as compulsory microchipping of dogs was generally welcomed by the MSPCA.

The Society pointed out that “unfortunately the implementation and enforcement of such laws has often left a lot to be desired and animal welfare NGOs often have to bear the brunt of this irregular implementation by providing protection to individual animals which should be protected by the laws.”

Chairperson of the MSPCA Barbara Cassar Torregiani said, “we have worked and will continue to tirelessly to educate the public and rehome more animals, but we are at a point where little or no improvement for animals is possible without the support of Government policies and departments in the form of better enforcement structures and laws.”

She said that the Society has made a number of proposals for the future to continue improving the standard of animal welfare in Malta and Gozo.

These can be downloaded from the Society’s website. The Society said that it hoped that they would be included in all the parties’ programmes for the next five years in the hope that, despite other issues of importance and the result of the election, “animals are guaranteed a better future.”

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