The MSPCA has said that it agrees with the “overall spirit” of Alison Bezzina’s article, which essentially underlines the need for a serious attitude change towards companion animals.

The MSPCA, in a statement on Thursday, said that unfortunately it believed that the Animal Welfare Commissioner’s message was “misread and misunderstood” and like Ms Bezzina, MSPCA did not want “kill shelters, yet action needs to be taken to avoid this. This was the whole point of her opinion piece.”

“Being the oldest Animal Welfare Organisation on the island (Est in 1876) we have had considerable experience in most areas of animal welfare and it is a relief to read the proposals put forward by the Commissioner for the upgrading and enforcement of legislation that we have long advocated,” it said.

1. Neutering campaign

MSPCA said that “our recent experience has shown that an effective state-funded large-scale national neutering campaign needs to be implemented for both dogs and cats. Over a 6 year period the MSPCA in association with Dogs Trust of the UK neutered over 16 K dogs for people on benefits, farms, factories and all Animal Shelters. These sectors were prioritised as we felt that these were the most in need of help.”

MSPCA stressed that “among these prioritised categories, we found that farms are one of the biggest problems for stray dogs and cats as the farmers pay no attention to the need or outcome of unneutered animals.”

It added that “an issue that also needs to be addressed is the suggestion among some veterinary surgeons that female dogs need to be bred at least once before neutering. Neutering has proven to be beneficial to both dogs and cats both in terms of health benefits aside from the prevention of unwanted litters being born and which may ultimately result in them being euthanized.”

MSPCA said that it fully supports a holistic approach to a mass neutering campaign, much needed for cats.

2. Regulate dog and cat breeders

The Association said that it agreed with the Commissioner in stating that “The current legislation for breeding dogs is very vague and very loose, making it almost impossible to enforce.”

“In our Associations’ view, breeding has unfortunately become an unregulated business, to the detriment of the poor animals being used and abused. Changes need to be made and MSPCA will support the Commissioner on this aspect as well, as we believe that this is one of the biggest problems we have,” it said.

Having said this as a starter, MSPCA said that the Animal Welfare needs to exercise “better” enforcement on the existing breeding laws to mitigate the current situation., “However we would like to suggest modifications to the current laws for the WELFARE of breeding animals.”

Firstly is the enforced reduction in the number of dog litters bred in an animal’s life. A female should be allowed to have only 2 litters (approx 20 puppies) in a life-span, as opposed to the current 6 (approx 60 puppies). Secondly, the conditions of breeding dogs need to be drastically improved and monitored, it said.

“Thirdly, we also recommend that breeding laws are to be regulated according to the breed.”

MSPCA also suggested that the breeders would be required to place a deposit as a guarantee to acquire their licence, which operates on a point system – failing to follow the regulations may result in immediate loss of both the licence and the deposit. Breeders need to ensure that every birth is registered (on a government website).

3. Microchipping of dogs and cats

MSPCA said it fully supported Ms Bezzina’s call to microchip cats, saying that it was at the forefront of making microchipping for dogs compulsory way back in 2008.

“This has been a good success although it could have been a lot more successful with a better and faster registration system and of course enforcement. Naturally, we are very much in favour of the chipping of cats, both pets and colony cats,” it added.

“One needs to learn from the mistakes made over the years in the microchipping of dogs and avoid them,” MSPCA said. “This is why we believe that vets, groomers and boarding kennels should be obliged to check and vets to register microchips on entry.”

4. Adopt don’t shop

MSPCA said that it believes that “as a country, we should look at the Netherlands who no longer have any street dogs. It brought its stray population under control through encouraging citizens to adopt not shop.”

“Citizens can also call the purposely formed animal police force to report strays on the street. The stray is promptly rescued and moved to a no-kill shelter. Some districts have even introduced higher taxes for shop-bought dogs to encourage more people to adopt,” it said.

Possibly a national register needs to be introduced so that potential animal owners can browse through the holdings of Sanctuaries in their search for a pet to be adopted.. This could also encourage more in the way of fostering, volunteering and educating youngsters about the importance of responsible pet ownership and neutering.

MSPCA added that it is currently working on educational programmes so that schools include ‘Animal Welfare’ in their educational curriculum.

The Association highlighted that the promotion of sale of animals is forbidden by law, yet it is common knowledge that it’s still happening and as can be evidenced by numerous ‘kennel’ and ‘breed’ pages on Facebook

The selling of dogs through websites such as ‘Maltapark’ and ‘Facebook’ should be made illegal, MSPCA said, and authorities should investigate and give hefty fines for the perpetrators.

Those caught breeding illegally should have their animals confiscated and the owner banned from ever owning another animal directly or indirectly.

5. Tax on selling and buying animals

The Association stressed that it “understands and appreciates the spirit of Ms Bezzina’s call for a tax though we have our reservations on this. MSPCA is strongly against the idea of turning domesticated animals into commodities similar to a handbag or other fashion item.- No animal should come with a price-tag.”

“We believe that people should not have the automatic right to own an animal, but one needs to obtain a licence and to demonstrate their responsibility in caring for a pet,” it said.

“Animals should be a privilege to have the opportunity to care for and not a right.”

MSPCA concluded by saying that it believes that “no healthy animal should ever be put down because the system is failing. Animals should not suffer because of our mistakes.”

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