A Nationalist Government would not issue permits for new zoos, this was one of the 12 proposed measures announced today for the protection of animals.
PN spokesperson Peter Agius, together with the Candidates Rebekah Cilia and Bernice Bonello, said that other proposals include assistance to cat feeders, National Micro-chipping and Neutering Programmes and harsher punishments for cruelty.
“Protecting animal rights must be a better reflection of a more advanced society,” they said.
The 12 proposals are:
1. Increase the functions, powers and resources of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare.
2. A national campaign to neuter abandoned animals (National Neutering Campaign).
3. Improve penalties for animal cruelty or keeping them in inappropriate conditions.
4. Establishments serving as zoos shall be regulated in such a way as to protect the best interests of the animals in a restricted and controlled operation by the authorities, while no further similar establishments shall be permitted.
5. Strengthen enforcement and reduce penalties for importers of animals without the necessary permits.
6. While finding a solution in the best interest of the exotic animals that exist in our country, with immediate effect, the importation and breeding of more animals of this type without prior permission will be prohibited.
7. Accelerate the microchipping programme of cats in order to reduce their abandonment and theft.
8. Carry out educational campaigns and introduce more incentives, including the use of subsidised veterinarians and hospitals, to encourage people to adopt instead of buying an animal.
9. Better regulate dog and cat breeding activities.
10. Launch a programme to assist, through facilities and funding, those who voluntarily feed cats.
11. In every major public area around Malta and Gozo there should be an animal-friendly park in order to strengthen the culture that animals are considered part of the family.
12. Carry out the animal cemetery project.
“These proposals will all be implemented in the first hundred days of a new Nationalist Government with most of them being implemented in the first year of the legislature,” they said.
The PN stressed that these proposals are being presented after consultation with various people and organisations in the sector.
The Nationalist Party also invited “anyone interested to come to us for a more detailed explanation of the proposals and how they will be implemented.”