NGOs involved with stray and abandoned animals, in a joint statement on Tuesday, have stressed that more space is needed for abandoned animals.
The joint statement was endorsed by; Real Animal Rights Foundation – RAR, Association for Abandoned Animals, MSPCA, Island Sanctuary, Noah’s Ark Dog Sanctuary, Malta, CLAWS – Cat Lovers Adoptions, Welfare & Support and Gozo SPCA.
“For years we have been highlighting the need for more space to house abandoned and stray animals adequately, and for years we have been promised a state-of-the-art new rehoming centre. To date, this has not materialised and it might still take many more years to get there,” the NGOs said.
They added that, “whilst we are aware that an interim and partial solution to address the space issue has been found, this needs to be executed at a faster pace, which requires more resources to be put behind it.”
The statement, outlining their proposals for the upcoming election, pointed out that “whilst everyone is busy and engaged with the current electoral campaign, our organisations and volunteers are being inundated by cases of animal cruelty, abandonment, neglect, and an overabundance of owners giving up their pets.”
The NGOs stressed that for years, “we have been proposing programmes to reduce the population of dogs and cats, and although some proposals have been partially taken up, they are being executed too slowly and with extremely limited resources.”
The said that, “in addition, to date, some proposals have been completely ignored e.g. A national neutering campaign for dogs and the obligatory microchipping of pet cats and their subsequent registration on a national database.”
“The Animal Welfare Directorate needs to be better equipped and financed to properly and efficiently enforce the law and curb cruelty to animals,” they said.
Although some improvements have been well noted in this area, the NGOs said that inspections for potential abuse or neglect “still take too long to take place.”
They also noted that “Animal Welfare Gozo still depends on Malta for enforcement purposes and any person reporting a case is hardly ever updated with the outcome of an inspection. In addition, limited space at Animal Welfare and at sanctuaries limit the number of confiscations that can be made by the Directorate.”
The NGOs also stressed that charging perpetrators in court is a “very time and resource-consuming exercise which cannot be executed well with the current resources allocated to the Directorate.”
“Animals are not inanimate objects. Animals, breathe, feel, and suffer. The dragging of feet and the stringing of pocket strings only leads to more suffering, more cruelty and the situation getting progressively worse,” the statement said.
“We hereby urge all Parties, and all politicians to give animal welfare the importance it deserves. Many interested parties, including voluntary organisations, the Animal Welfare council, the Commissioner for Animal Welfare, have submitted various proposals to address the most urgent and pressing concerns.
“We urge politicians to not only listen and nod their heads, not only to promise, but to put our tax money to good use by putting in the necessary financial and human resources to stop the suffering, the NGOs said.
They stressed that “words and promises are easy to make, but making a real difference takes more commitment. It takes money, it takes good people, and it takes a sense of urgency to stop the unimaginable suffering being caused by the situation.”
They concluded by saying that “as signatory NGOs, we remain at the disposal of the government to continue to work together to ensure swifter progress where it is most sorely needed and strongly urge far greater importance to this sector.”
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