Impressive animal awareness abroad.

Helping animals in distress.

You know, one thing that ALWAYS fascinates me, even when I was a young boy, was the extent to which some foreign and local bodies go through, in order to save an animal's life. The classic story of firemen saving a kitten up a tree is the order of the day - but even that is impressive. Today's story takes us abroad, far, far away in California, where a mountain bear found itself in serious difficulties.

Follow the pictures, found in BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7020540.stm) :

The poor bear tried to jump off the bridge, frightened from traffic noises.

It was stranded for 24 hours.

Rescuers lower a nylon net while the bear looks on.

A tranquilliser shot and a pole are used to force the bear into the net.

The bear is carefully lowered to the ground....

... and then, free again!

Negative criticism from abroad.

A LETTER IN THIS WEEK'S MALTA TODAY:

Animal abuse? No thank you
I am the chairperson of a ladies’ group having 120 members. We save our money and annually take an out-of-States vacation. We were considering your beautiful country until I read about the abuse suffered by your animals: dogs, cats, birds, etc. We voted and agreed this was not acceptable to us. We have also started a campaign to teach others of these abuses. We will continue teaching others about these abuses until we are satisfied that you have changed your policies.
Jamey MendenhallUnited States

COMMENT: My initial reaction to such a letter is: how true, how right, serves us right! Well done! In Malta, we have such a poor standard of animal awareness and animal rights. Such a situation is over-powering on such a small island as ours: NINTNU BL-INTIENA TA' NUQQAS TA' ĦARSIEN TA' L-ANNIMALI!!!!!

Point made, I hope.

BUT.................

BUT .....

To state that you will boycott our country because there is poor animal respect is not only being STUPID AND IDIOTIC, but also NONSENSICAL AND DISGUSTINGLY UNJUST.

As if animal abuse is rife only in our country! As if animal abuse is not carried out, WITH the blessings of the national administrations, in other countries!!!!

So, with the same logic, don't go to SPAIN, where there is sooooooo much animal respect when it comes to bullfights, bull runs, .... need I mention more?

So, don't go to the UNITED KINGDOM, where there is soooooooooo much animal respect with it comes to fox hunts, rearing animals in captivity for their coats, etc ....

So, don't go anywhere in CANADA, where there is, indeeeeeeed, sooooooooooo much animal respect when it comes to the cruel, atrocious way of murdering seals, and seal puppies, again for their coats.

So, don't go anywhere AT ALL, in the world, because animal cruelty is rampant everywhere around the globe, Malta included ... but ALSO Malta, yes, because Malta is inhabited by human beings and yes, wherever there are human beings, generally, you also find cruelty of all sorts - to animals and to honest, law-abiding and innocent human beings alike.

As a conclusion, I wonder if this Jamie Mendenhall actually wears anything that ever came from animal pelt! That would really give us an idea about how really animal-respecting she and her cronies are!

THANK GOD FOR HIS CREATION.

OPEN DAY AT ISLAND SANCTUARY, TAS-SILG, LIMITS OF MARSAXLOKK.

SUNDAY, 7TH OCTOBER, FROM 9.00 AM.

THE ACTIVITY ENDS WITH MASS AT 4.30 PM.

EVERONE ATTENDING THE MASS IS INVITED TO BRING THEIR PETS.

A PERSONALISED TOKEN WILL BE GIVEN TO EACH PET.

ALL ANIMALS PRESENT WILL BE BLESSED.

Send us your pet's name by sms on 5061 1810 (each sms costs 2c) or email Glory@mashpromotions.com by not later than 5th October.

Animal awareness......... birds are also animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe those few who have started reading my humble blog, may have wondered why I have refrained from hitting out at hunters and defending the plight that birds go through, while being on our islands.

Well, the reason was that I was trying to steer clear from the subject of hunting and trapping - an environmental plague for Malta and Gozo. I tried to concentrate on OTHER issues, you see.

But, how can you, when you see and read about the horrible things that are taking place around us?

A couple of days ago - it was Saturday evening - I was watching an Inspector Barnaby episode on LA 7, an Italian channel. And in this episode, a group of young hooligans were passing their time, at night, going around the wood with their four-wheel drive, shooting at anything that moved. And this man, known as The Green man - a stramb, we call him in Maltese, for he didn't have a roof over his head, he didn't live in a house like we do, instead, he preferred living surrounded by nature, in the wood. And this Green man turned up from the middle of nowhere and stopped these youngsters, telling them that it was evil to shoot simply for the love of killing creatures. He laid emphasis, using just a couple of sentences, to show the difference between killing for the fun of it and killing in order to get food to eat.

I remembered this when I read the following news item, this morning:

Ministry, MTA condemn 'senseless act' by Chris Galea, di-ve news
VALLETTA, Malta (di-ve news) -- September 24, 2007 -- 1430CEST -- The Ministry for Tourism and Culture and the Malta Tourism Authority have strongly condemned the 'senseless act committed by irresponsible persons' at Nadur Tower in Dwejra over the weekend, when dead birds of prey were placed in an observation post used by birdwatchers. Whilst expressing their support to BirdLife's efforts to attract birdwatchers to Malta, the Ministry and the MTA noted that these efforts were yielding results as witnessed by the sell-out bird-watching camp held over the past days and the keen interest shown by tour operators specialising in bird-watching holidays to include Malta in their next brochures. "The placing of dead birds of prey in areas frequented by these bird watchers goes against our tourism offering, based on hospitality, heritage and diversity. This act will damage our prospects of developing this tourism niche and will generate unwanted negative publicity for Malta in our main source markets," the Ministry and the MTA said in a statement. "Tourism benefits us all and we must all support it through our actions. These few individuals with their wanton acts are doing the opposite," the statement went on. Whilst auguring that the Police find the co-operation from all quarters in their efforts to identify the culprits, the Ministry and the MTA concluded by reiterating that it is in the interest of all -- not least of the majority of hunters who observe our laws and regulations -- that the few who persist in breaking the law are brought to justice.

You see, my friends, ... these hunters - I wouldn't call them 'few', but then, I am not preparing myself to be elected yet again! - do not merely kill in order to stuff their big, fat mouths with the fowl that they shoot, as if that creature was predestined by God Himself to be eaten by that particular hunter; but now, they're taking pleasure in shooting beautiful birds and putting them in a place for all to see, to spite, as it were, the representatives of foreign interference that this country is being subjected to (sic!)!

Now if that isn't sick, what is? I ask you!

As that Green man said to the youths - by shooting for the sheer pleasure of it, as MOST OF the Maltese hunters are doing (unlike our Maltese politicians, I have guts and I have the courage to say things as I see them!!!), we are attacking NATURE itself, and one day, sooner or later if not already, NATURE will be having its own back. And the reaction will kill us all, not just those damn shotgun-wielding bastards!

But what can we expect from such 'people'?

But, most of all, one should criticise their leader, FKNK Secretary Lino Farrugia, who some days ago gave a press conference in which he used words such as 'foreign interference', 'persona non grata', etc....

What does this man expect? Does he expect that Malta should close its doors to foreigners? Especially now that we are, thankfully, members of the EU?

Or, does he expect people not to take a stand against those hunters who think that they own the whole of Malta, and forbid people from walking along the countryside as they please?

Let's turn to politics. Heaven forbid is any one of the bigger Parties should succumb and promise hunters the earth, in order to garner more votes. Heaven forbid. We are already in a bad way, with the stand this present Administration has taken. To turn the clock back would mean to deny us, the real 'innocent citizens' of these islands, from enjoying what is, by right, ours.

It is a mystery to me how it is that there is so much land that belongs to private individuals. I do not own such land. How come did this land fall into fellow citizens' hands? When was such land bought? How was it bought? What documentation do these people have to show, to prove that that land is theirs? Just by wielding a gun towards me will not stop me from walking along common pathways in our limited countryside.

How can the present administration speak about 'self-regulation' with such 'people'? They hardly know what the word means. All they know is how to spend time shooting away at anything that moves, rather than being busy earning their livelihood. Malta is a small country - and we hear of various works grinding to a halt because the workers unilaterally take time off to go hunting ... or trapping, for that matter.

This 'man' believes that the country should be enjoyed by locals. Hmm..... by 'locals', does he mean 'hunters and trappers' or all the peace-loving Maltese people? Don't bother to answer: the truth is there for all to see.

Well, things have to change, in Malta and Gozo. We simply cannot continue taking from Nature that which is not ours! Migratory or other kinds of birds are mine as much as they are Lino Farrugia and his ilk. And if I say that I want those birds to remain alive, I have as much right, being an 'innocent citizen', as my hunter who lives next door!

A Post Scriptum: The Director of BirdLife Malta should be replaced by a Maltese citizen. In that manner, Mr Tolga Temuge, the present Director, will be thanked for his interest and hard work and will no longer be the aim of representatives of our local stupidity, ignorance and closemindedness.

CD DEDICATED TO ANIMAL RIGHTS.

From a Correspondent in THE SUNDAY TIMES:

Rock for a purpose
Mr Robert Callus, Alternattiva Demokratika Zghazagh - Green Youth, Mosta.

Alternattiva Demokratika Zghazagh would like to congratulate the punk rock band Subculture on their first CD which they dedicated to animal rights.
Resist the Abuse was launched on August 31, dealing with different animal rights issues and human greed, in collaboration with Kenneth Cassar (www.animalrightsmalta.com), a long-time activist in this field.
Better still, all profits are to be used to produce a cartoons DVD which aim to educate children aged between four and ten on animal rights. Information could be found at www.animalrightsmalta.com.
Subculture have already released two other CDs in which the lyrics deal with contemporary social and political issues like war, human rights, racism, globalisation and animal rights.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ANIMAL CRUELTY - there for all to see!

A Sunday Times correspondent, writes:

Caged animals on market stall
Ms Debbie Calamatta, Mriehel.
We recently visited the Sunday market and came across a stall with animals in cages. It was real cruelty to animals in the scorching heat. There were all types of birds in cages (chickens, ducks, etc.) and kittens and puppies. I managed to take a couple of photos with my mobile phone.
One of them is of an exaggerated amount of birds in one cage stacked next to each other and the other is of three puppies in a small cage and another two cages with kittens in it.
This is unacceptable.

COMMENT: AND I REPEAT: INDEED, YES, IT IS UNACCEPTABLE. Through this blog, I have already condemned the selling of animals for financial profit - animals are free spirits and we should not, must not, use them for financial profit. More about this later, folks.

TOMASINA CAT SANCTUARY, THIS TIME - The Sunday Times.

Tomasina Cat Sanctuary
Ms Stella Chetcuti, Marsa.
Thanks to Tomasina Cat Sanctuary and its dedicated volunteers, two 'stray' cats which were probably thrown out into the streets at Marsa, (as one young male was found to be already neutered and a female ginger tabby was first seen on our street wearing a blue flea collar and very pregnant), have been adopted.
They were noticed by a volunteer, Mrs Frida of Fgura, when she came to collect some magazines for the sanctuary's fund-raising. She made it a point to call us back and tell us that she was coming to take these poor cats to get them neutered and maybe adopted.
She kept her word. Not only did she take them to a vet to be examined and neutered but she also called us back to tell us that both cats have been adopted by caring owners. One is going all the way to Germany!

COMMENT: I am very glad to have the opportunity to 'introduce' to my readers YET ANOTHER animal sanctuary. This is Sunday morning ... more about this later. Watch this space! FF

Animal shows are not among the list of animal-friendly activities!!!

Cat shows, dog shows, the lot. They are not animal-friendly activities, in my opinion. I would nevr take my cats to a show - it would prove too stressful for them. Imagine them, locked up in decorated, stupid cages, next to other, equally-imprisoned stressed-out cats that they have never met before! Imagine being suddenly introduced to all those strange smells, strange noises, strange people, poking their ugly heads almost inside the cages!
Do we really know what we are doing when we organise such shows?
Yes ... go on! Go visit these shows and enjoy yourselves. That really SHOWS how much we care for our pets. Pete-lovers indeed! We don't even know what that word means!!!! FF

The show will consist of three categories. Category A shall consist of Pure Breed Kittens over three months. Category B consists of Pure Breed Adults over 11 months and all the Domestics over three months shall contest in Category C. Trophies will be awarded to the best three places in both Categories A and B. The Domestics in Category C will be awarded with two trophies. There is also a special trophy for the public's choice of best decorated cage and last but not least the trophy that all the exhibitors await, the Best Overall. This is won by the public’s most voted cat at the show be it a Pure Breed or Domestic cat. All the visitors to the show have the chance to win one of many hourly prizes.The main sponsor of the Cat Show is Gourmet Pearl. The Malta Feline Guardians Club would like to take this opportunity to thank Gourmet Pearl for showing their trust in the club by once again sponsoring one of our Cat Shows. Television presenter and cat enthusiast Moira Delia (NOW THAT'S STRANGE!) shall be representing the main sponsor Gourmet Pearl and shall also be awarding a trophy to her most admired feline.The MFGC although a relatively new club, is rapidly gaining popularity with cat lovers (FF: pooooh!!!!) . All the cats shown are carefully maintained and are very well taken care of both in grooming and more so in health. (FF: But how can you say that and remain neutral-faced! These cats go through hours and hours of stress!!!! And we talk about health! Double -poooooh!)

Moira to present programme on animals

Moira Delia (FF: well known for her love for animals and for her abhorration for all forms of animal cruelty - she makes no secret of this!) is currently producing and presenting the first ever programme shown on national television to go into detail on everything that has to do with animals' welfare. The programme 's main aim is to trigger more respect and appreciation towards all creatures.This half an hour programme will be full of information about pet animals, strays, and animals in the wild. It will be full of exclusive footage explaining particular cases where animals were involved, which we will investigate. Another popular feature will be experiences w(h)ere animals assist humans. All this will besides more interesting information and many, many more stories. The programme will also feature short 5-minute documentaries about the wild, showing the marvels of every animal's kingdom. Simple guides to homing a pet such as medications, training needed, facts and myths will be shown and in detail explained. Local and international NGO's, such as Greenpeace, Nature trust, Island Sanctuary and CAT Society will also feature in the programme. Thus television viewers will know more about these groups, their work and their achievements. We will definitely promote more fund raising activities which help stray animals and sanctuaries. All programmes will conclude with a short news bulletin related to the subject tackled. The programme will be aired on TVM every Tuesday at 5.30pm. If you would like to be part of our programme phone on mob. 9942-2829 or 7940-7051 or send an e-mail on mamamoira@hotmail.com or claire@zoo.com.mt for more information.

COMMENT: This looks like a very promising programme, particularly since Ms Delia is in charge of it. I suggest that you all tune in to this programme every Tuesday at 5.30 pm - not a very good time, for some. Probably, PBS are too busy ruining the viewing schedule of all those interested in local tv viewing to bother realising that this could be such a wonderful programme. Well, what can I say? I will certainly have it video-recorded and will watch it all!

Smuggling of exotic animals ... using his false leg!

Man 'steals iguanas in fake leg'. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7007942.stm)

This iguana, and the other three found, will now be re-housedA Californian man has been charged with using his false leg to smuggle three endangered iguanas from a nature reserve in Fiji to the United States.
Prosecutors say Jereme James stole the banded iguanas while on a visit to the South Pacific island in 2002.
He is alleged to have constructed a special compartment inside his prosthetic limb to move the reptiles.
Officials began investigating Mr James after receiving a tip off that he was in possession of several of the beasts.
The Fiji Island Banded Iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus), noted for its bright green skin, is threatened with extinction and protected under an international treaty regulating trade in endangered species.
Mr James could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

COMMENT: NOW THAT'S WHAT I REALLY CALL A SOUND COURT SENTENCE: UP TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON IF CONVICTED. ALLOW ME TO SAY: WOW! COULD YOU IMAGINE IF SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAD TO HAPPEN IN MALTA? COULD YOU IMAGINE THE 'TMELLISA FUQ IL-PALA TA' L-ID' BY OUR COURTS, ALSO BECAUSE OF OUR FEEBLE LEGISLATION IN WHAT CONCERNS ANIMALS? FF

ISLAND SANCTUARY letter in The Times, 21 September, 2007.

Island Sanctuary
Sylvia Zammit, The Island Sanctuary Association, Marsaxlokk.

I refer to the article 160 Dogs "May Be Put To Sleep" (September 18).
In actual fact, this was not sent by any of our officials, though it was partly based on the press release we issued on August 29. The full text of the press release was as follows:
"The Island Sanctuary Association has been in operation for the last 20 years taking in its care stray and abandoned dogs. We have been complaining of a lack of volunteers for the past three years, but our appeals have fallen on deaf ears. We have now reached a point where we can no longer operate in this manner.
There are not enough volunteers to cover the whole week. Unless the situation is remedied, we have no choice but to close down the sanctuary."
Putting our dogs to sleep was never an option for us, even if no volunteers had come forward. As it is, though, we have been encouraged by the support of many animal lovers who contacted us.
We have just launched the Island Sanctuary Calendar for 2008 to help us raise the funds we need.
The Island Sanctuary can be contacted on 2165 9895 or 7901 8901 or on email info@islandsanctuary.com.mt.

MY COMMENT: ISLAND SANCTUARY is another animal shelter which is going through hard times, basically due to lack of volunteers. You see, Island Sanctuary has one 'problem': it does not kill the animals that it takes under its wings. It keeps them there for years, and years, and only puts a dog to sleep when it is found that that dog simply cannot continue living a decent, painless life.

Dear readers, that is the basic difference between PUTTING TO SLEEP and KILLING. All those who work with sanctuaries and shelters, SPCA Floriana included, would do well to learn it.

So, when a shelter such as I.S. does not put animals to sleep, the place tends to get crowded. This, in itself, brings various problems, such as lack of hygiene, lack of resources as well as food - it has been known that volunteers themselves, sometimes, bring or buy food for the dogs, in order not to see them go hungry! - and lack of space. How does one bring a balance to this? I don't know. But certainly, KILLING the animals for lack of space is not the answer.

Since I.S. REALLY practises a no-kill policy, it is facing harship regarding volunteers. So, one should be mindful of this urgent plea of I.S. and perhaps use that phone ... and call!

My sincere best wishes to Island Sanctuary in their quest to attract and inspire more volunteers. FF

Funny Animals

Keep up the humour!!!! Enjoy these clips!

YAY! Funny Animal Videos!

Watch this stuff, but be careful: some of the clips are really funny, ONLY because they are natural behaviourisms of our domestic animals and even those which are not domestic (the penguin!!!). Other clips are not so funny, simply because I am sure that there's man's hand in it - the cat on the ceiling fan, for one, and the smoking chimp. Anyway, enjoy most of them. :-)

Crazy Animals

From correspondence in THE TIMES, 20th Septembmer 2007:

Save the dogs

Mandy Micallef, Marsascala.

As a volunteer and the organiser of the recent Association for Abandoned Animals' charity event, I am extremely disappointed with members of the public who knew about the event but didn't bother to turn up. First, to support the singers and mainly to support those poor dogs who have been abandoned by the people on this island!
All the sanctuaries, run by volunteers, are in desperate need of good caring people to adopt a dog or a cat. We make time to go and help in any way we can. I hear time and time again, "I'm too busy, I don't have time". Well to me that's just an excuse as people make time to do the things they really want to do. However those who do want to help can donate just 50c towards a dog in desperate need of a good, loving home. One may text on 5061 6050 for a 50c donation or 5061 7350 for a Lm1 donation. (FF'S BOLD!)
We don't see homeless children on our streets so why do we see animals all alone, hungry, scared and in need of some tender loving care and shelter? We do nothing and just drive or walk on by...
Do something good today and help the animals that we live with. Alone, we can do little but together we can do a lot.


FURTHER COMMENTS ARE SUPERFLUOUS: I HAVE THE GREATEST ADMIRATION FOR MR FREDDIE FENECH, WHO HAS DEDICATED MUCH OF HIS LIFE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE DESTINY AND THE FATE OF MANY STRAY DOGS ROAMING OUR STREETS. UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO LACK OF TIME AND VOLUNTEERS, FREDDIE LACKS THE ORGANISATION SKILLS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE MAKE 'HIS' DOG SHELTER ONE OF THE BEST IN THE ISLANDS.

BELIEVE ME, THE 50 CENT THAT YOU COULD CHANNEL TO THE DOG SHELTER THAT HE MANAGES, IS 50 CENTS WELL SPENT.

WHY NOT START TODAY? OR BETTER STILL, GO TO YOUR FAVOURITE SUPERMARKET, BUY SOME LIRI'S WORTH OF CANNED DOG FOOD AND TAKE IT OVER TO HIM AT LUQA.

I HOPE THIS MESSAGE REACHES THE RIGHT EARS. THESE ANIMALS NEED OUR HELP. FREDDIE CANNOT GO IT ALONE! FF

MILES APART appeared in THE MALTA INDEPENDENT today.

The following letter appeared in today's edition of the newspaper:


Miles apart
by Franco Farrugia
I am pleased that at least, there has been a sort of response to my letter regarding openness of SPCA’s policies – or non-policies, for that matter. However, I did expect the president of SPCA Malta, Mrs Cassar Torreggiani, to write in and clarify SPCA Floriana’s policy to us, the rest of the misguided, “naïve” mortals who spend our time working with animals in an apparently useless manner.Mr Antoine Vella in his letter How the SPCA works (TMID, 13 September) is wrong to try to bring politics into the fray. I have previously stated that this has nothing to do with politics – it has to do with animal awareness and animal well being. If, like Mr Vella, one cannot make out the difference between a partisan political party club and an animal shelter, then I am afraid that one’s place is not among animal lovers and volunteers. If anyone working in these arenas is tempted to bring in the colours blue and red into the arguments that crop up, then those people who brag that they are helping animals will be doing them the worst disservice. Animal awareness and animal well being need the cooperation of all, irrespective of what their colour is.Back to Mr Vella’s equally “pompous” letter. SPCA has suffered damage and will certainly continue suffering damage unless: • it comes out clean about its so-called no-kill policy; and • it assures the country that it is following an honest, proven, no-kill policy.Perhaps Mr Vella, in his wisdom and loyalty to SPCA – by the way, my loyalty is to the animals, and not to any organisation or body! – would be condescending enough to refer us to the documents regarding the policies of SPCA Floriana. To my knowledge as an outsider of SPCA, previous annual general meetings were overshadowed by petty, ridiculous power manipulations within SPCA to throw out this and that person from the committee. Finally, Mr Vella, and indeed Mrs Cassar Torreggiani in previous letters, appear to ignore the fact that there is much, much work being done in favour of animals outside the precincts of SPCA Floriana. And, may I add, it is fortunate for the animals that things are this way.An SPCA Malta should act as a “mother” of all other animal sanctuaries: it should lead by example, collaborate with all animal lovers and all those working out there in the streets, avenues, fields, even traffic islands, to keep cats and dogs alive and well. It would be a point of reference to us all, who work with animals, and teach us how to do more for them. It would have excellent relations with all the other animal sanctuaries on our islands, and be a meeting point for all the volunteers working in them. It should be a voice crying out in the wilderness that is Malta, with regard to animal welfare!Unlike what Mr Vella thinks, SPCA Floriana has no right to run “its own affairs”. On the contrary, it has the duty to come out clean and explain to the Maltese people about its killing policy. Such as: how many animals are being killed every day? How are animals chosen to be killed? Who – name and surname, please – decides which animal lives and which animal dies? And many, many other questions that need to be asked. Of course, I may be wrong! I hope that I am wrong. I sincerely hope that there is no such policy taking place at SPCA Floriana. I also hope that the utmost care and responsibility is taken when it comes to killing a dog! For these reasons and for others, I will not be party to this animal slaying that goes on at Floriana, and I will not “contribute anything to the association”. I therefore decline Mr Vella’s offer to work side by side with him at SPCA. We are miles apart.

COMMENT: My friends, let's brace ourselves for an onslaught. Malta is a very small place, and it has been reported to me that my name is MUD at SPCA Floriana. SPCA is also in contact with government agencies and ministries to enter into the debate and lambast me. Obviously, attacking SPCA means attacking the establishment. The time has come, perhaps, for SPCA to update itself in its way that it works as well as the methods it uses in PR. Gone are the days when an established shelter such as SPCA Floriana only 'needs' the people for fund-raising activities. FF

Il-kummerċ ta' l-annimali - speċjalment f'pajjiżna.

Non-Maltese readers of this humble blog will forgive me for expressing myself in my Maltese language, but I feel I simply MUST use my mother-language in a blog which 'belongs' to a Maltese citizen as well as a blog which centres around the experiences of animal awareness IN MALTA and GOZO. So, please do forgive me.


Illejla, nixtieq naqsam miegħek, għażiż ħabib tiegħi li qed taqra din il-kitba, ftit ħsibijiet - u se nkun qasir biex ma ndejjaqx nies - dwar il-kummerċ ta' l-annimali, speċjalment f'pajjiżna.

Sejjaħli li trid, għid li jien ESTREMIST - forsi minnu li jien hekk! - imma f'ġieħ dawk kollha li huma fil-bżonn, wieħed hekk irid ikun. F'Malta, sa' fejn naf jien, m'hawn l-ebda awtorita' li tieħu fil-kunsiderazzjoni tagħha l-mod kif ċerti annimali jaslu Malta minn barra. Mhux hekk biss, imma qas hemm awtorita' li tindaħal fuq xi prezzijiet jintalbu għal dawn l-annimali; u l-anqas hemm awtorita' li tindaħal dwar il-MOD kif dawn l-annimali jkunu STORJATI - ħa nuża din il-kelma - sakemm jiġu biex jinbiegħu.

Ha nibda fuq it-traġitti. Jiġifieri, il-vjaġġ - ġeneralment bil-baħar - għal Malta. U diġa' qedin ninjuraw il-vjaġġi fuq l-art sakemm dawn il-povri annimali jkunu waslu fil-port, għat-triq tagħhom lejn Malta!!! It-traġitt fuq il-baħar huwa wieħed ta' sagrifiċċju kbir għall-annimal. Il-Bambin biss jaf, per eżempju, l-għasafar kemm ikunu magħfusin flimkien, iffullati f'gaġeġ żgħar, sakemm jaslu Malta! Nafu wkoll il-mod krudil kif għasafar kbar ikunu poġġuti ġo kaxex ta' l-injam mid-destinazzjoni tagħhom sakemm jaslu fil-ħanut fejn se jkunu esposti għall-bejgħ. Il-pappagall, per eżempju, jinfetħulu ġwenħajħ u jintrass, pappagall ma' ieħor, fil-kaxxa. Alla biss jaf kemm imutu annimali bħal dawn, f'dawn il-vjaġġi, sakemm jaslu fid-destinazzjoni. U mhux ta' b'xejn li l-prezz tal-ħajjin, jitla' m'għola s-smewwiet!

Xi ngħidu ghall-kummerċ ta' annimali hekk imsejħa eżotiċi. Dawn l-aħħar snin, saret moda li fid-dar ikollna 'għamara ħajja, għamara li tiċċaqlaq u li tieħu n-nifs'! Jiġifieri, dawk li huma għonja w ma jafux kif jaqbdu jonfqu flushom fuq id-dar, jaraw kif jagħmlu w jixtru dawn l-annimali eżotiċi biex jimlew id-dar bihom. Naraw kull tip ta' sriep, kull tip ta' għasfur, klieb ta' kull għamla w daqs, eċċ.... Saħansitra jkollna bżonn ta' annimali oħra biex nagħtuhom bħala ikel lill-pets eżotiċi tagħna. Mela, jekk għandna serp id-dar, ħa jkollna bżonn ..... ġrieden żgħar ħajjin, mhux hekk? U nieħdu gost, nagħmluha ta' missirijiet 'macho' quddiem uliedna, ġeneralment subien, inħarsu lejhom u nidhku!

Infakkrekx fil-ktieb ELEPHANT MAN li wara kien sar film kolossali?!

Mhux hekk biss: imma saħansitra niftaħru li għandna dan jew dak it-tip ta' kelp, u nuruħ fl-istudjo tat-tv, fuq il-Malti. U nifirħu. U niggustawh. U nimitawħ! Mela, mhux hekk!

Ftit, imma, nirrejaliżżaw li aħna bħala bnedmint m'għandna l-ebda dritt li nżommu dawn l-annimali 'l-bogħod mill-klima u mill-abitat naturali tagħhom.

B'liema dritt għandu l-bniedem jistagħna minn fuq povru annimal?

B'liema dritt għandu l-bniedem igawdi w jiddeverti minn fuq it-tbatija ta' annimal?

Punt ieħor huwa dwar kif dawn l-annimali jintrefgħu u jkunu storjati fil-ħwienet. Hawn xi ħadd li għandu kuxjenza li jinkwieta w jistaqsi kif il-ħwienet iżommu lil dawn l-annimali?

• Jekk dawn l-annimali jitpoġġewx fix-xemx Maltija għa siegħat sħaħ mingħajr ilma?
• Jekk dawn l-annimali jkollhomx ikel u xorb biżżejjed, kif ukoll - importanti din! - spazju biżżejjed huma w jistennew id-destin tagħhom fil-ħwienet, u dan speċjalment fil-jiem ta' għeluq tal-hanut, fi tmiem il-ġimgħa, jew fil-festi?
• Jekk dawn l-annimali jkunux WISQ VIĊIN ta' annimali oħra li ma jinġiebux magħhom? Ngħidu aħna, qattus viċin xi serp?

Għandna din il-kuxjenza? Jew inħallu kollox għaddej mar-riħ? Jew, tagħmlu bħalma nagħmel jien, inħares naħa ohra - ! - għax ma nafx x'naqbad nagħmel!

Se nieqaf hawn għax ktibt iktar milli xtaqt.

Darb'ohra, nixtieq nitkellem dwar għaliex m'għandniex NIXTRU annimali pedigree: opinjoni tiegħi, mhux bilfors taqbel.

Jekk ma taqbilx, ... ikteb.

Pictures say it all (2)

Another picture with an animal awareness message taken from the BBC News Website.

This time, the pictures is taken from an activity where an animal rights group Peta protest in front of the Australian embassy in Jakarta against Australia's alleged live export of sheep and cattle to the Middle East and South Asia.

This picture, too, has a message for us, the Maltese people.

Have we ever stopped to wonder how animals and living things are IMPORTED into the country? Have we ever stopped to wonder how birds are imported? In what state they arrive in Malta?

Are the authorities doing their utmost to ensure that animals are not hurt or in some way put in uncomfortable conditions when it comes to importation?

And what about the importation of exotic animals? WHY, first of all, should Malta import exotic animals? WHY should there be dogs which, we know, are alien to our hot climate? And yet, we DO see such dogs around us. Not only that, but we often see them on local television, to boot!

More about these atrocities, later.

Pictures say it all (1)

This is a picture, taken from the BBC News website.
It's a pink poodle 'gracing' a model fashion show in Madrid last week.
I call it abuse of animals and nothing else.
First of all, speciesism is bad! We should keep animals for the love of companionship, NOT in order to let other people know how well off we are in order to buy and keep such a pedigree animals.
In the streets around us, there are stray cats and dogs dying, literally, to find a loving home. Why not adopt one of them, or go to some animal sanctuary / shelter, and adopt one from there?
Particularly in Malta, the authorities should consider heavily taxing breeders of pedigrees.
That way, we will also be heavily discouraging world activity in trying to experiment with new breeds, etc.... Look at the result that man has made out of 'inventing' new breeds: the rottweiller, for example. Then, when 'nature' turns against us, we put the fault on the product of our ill-conceived - even evil! - ideas.

From abroad: an example of a woman's love for her pet dog.

This is an extract, taken from the BBC World News website ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6997235.stm ) and which narrates the story of a woman's dedication and courage in saving her pet dog from the grips of death, literally.

A Hong Kong woman kicked and punched a 4.5 metre (15 foot) Burmese python to wrest free her pet dog after the snake wrapped itself around it.
Catherine Leonard grappled with the python after it attacked Poppy during a walk in the Sai Kung country park.
Ms Leonard, 41, said she heard "a yelping that was like a scream".
She said she acted because she remembered a husky dog was crushed by a python last year in the same area despite the owner's attempt to save it.

Reactions to SPCA Letter - The Malta Independent, 17 Sept 2007.

Coming clean
by Lara Refalo
This letter is in response to Mr Franco Farrugia’s article, Answers expected from SPCA (TMID, 8 September). Please note that I am not writing on behalf of Mrs Cassar Torregiani but in my own name – a member of staff who works at the SPCA together with a team of dedicated people without whom the fate of animals in Malta would be a lot more tragic.I am not one to write in the newspaper, but in this case if “coming clean” requires me to reply to your questions, Mr Farrugia, so be it because we are as clean as animal welfare gets.


Let it be stated at the outset that I have the greatest respect for ALL animal care volunteers, WHEREVER they may choose to work - on their own, freelance like myself, or within animal associations and sanctuaries. As long as the animals' rights are respected, of course.

To begin with, our no-kill policy depends on the health and disposition of an animal. Surely you must know that the Animal Ambulance run by the government is not in operation and we do not have an animal hospital in Malta yet.

What is SPCA doing to ensure that this very important tool is up and running again? Is SPCA communicating with govt in order to ensure this?

Our medical resources are limited and unlike popular belief, we do not have a 24/7 in house vet. Therefore all medical procedures have to be performed at private vets including spaying and neutering.Although we cannot accommodate seriously injured animals, we have cared for three dogs with broken limbs in the past month and another one with dislocated shoulders.As already mentioned, 80 per cent of animals that are put to sleep at the SPCA are owners’ pets. I think owners have a right to decide whether or not their sick or old pet is suffering.

No. Owners have no RIGHT to decide whether or not their sick or old pet is suffering. Many owners are not knowledgeable in this area, or else, are too egocentric to bother caring for a sick or injured animal for a long time. SPCA would not choose to be party in this evil of killing a pet just because it is going through a bad patch.

Do you actually think that we simply accept owners’ pets to be put to sleep without verification or in some cases, a referral from a vet? Putting animals to sleep in such cases is animal welfare rather than abandoning them onto the street either sick, blind or in various stages of decrepitude.

I don't know what happens inside SPCA. That is exactly how this correspondence has started: by realising that far too many sacks filled with animal carcasses were leaving SPCA to be dumped very unceremoniously!

The SPCA has come a long way from putting dogs to sleep after seven days point blank. We have dogs with us who have been here for five years.Bambi being one of them, will be flying to her new home in Cheshire this Christmas.For the record, aggressive and seriously sick/injured animals make up 20 per cent of animals put to sleep by a vet at the SPCA.

Ah! At last - a light upon that remaining 20 % of animals being put to sleep!

Aggressive dogs are our responsibility when it comes to members of staff or potential owners.I do not like watching people bringing their pets to be put to sleep. It is often a very emotional experience. Supporting people who have no choice but to put their beloved pet to sleep is one of the most difficult jobs we have and we hope we are of service to them.It is the worst part of my job which is otherwise a very fulfilling one.If you have any doubts about SPCA, come and visit our premises. Despite their woeful state, we carry on because without us, animal lovers would have much more to worry about.

And I have no doubt about it! We are so few of us, caring for animals, in Malta, that every single pair of voluntary hands is important! Heaven forbid that SPCA should close down its doors - of any other animal sanctuary, for that matter! That is not the aim of this correspondence. The aim is to ensure that the mother of all animal sanctuaries in Malta - SPCA - should be careful and transparent with regard to its KILLING POLICY. There should be official and well-documented statistics to prove that the killing of an animal, at Floriana, only takes place under the absolute of constraints. Is this too much to ask from SPCA?

Ms Refalo, please continue with your sterling work in favour of animals, at SPCA. In the meantime, more clarity is required.


Lara Refalo
SPCA Malta

Letter published in THE MALTA INDEPENDENT.

Answers expected from SPCA.

Through your newspaper, on 27 August last (Fallen animals and humane euthanasia), I asked SPCA to come out clean about its policy regarding the killing of stray animals. Among other things, I wrote:

‘SPCA will be discrediting itself if it were to refrain from pronouncing itself with regard to its ‘kill’ or ‘no-kill’ policy. I feel that the Maltese people have a right to know where this association stands in this matter.’

To date, Mrs Cassar Torreggiani, of SPCA Malta, has refrained from answering my question and clarifying as to what policy she and her staff practice at SPCA. This, in itself, is strange, seeing that, in her own words, ‘SPCA has nothing to hide’ (Come and See for yourself, TMI, 23rd August).

One will recall that Mrs Cassar Torreggiani dedicated a letter which was supposedly in answer to factual reports that dogs’ ‘carcasses’ were being dumped at WasteServ, by going into hyper defence-mode and claim that such journalism was ‘biased in editorship’, ‘slanted in its content’, and ‘incorrect in its conclusion’ (same letter)

It is not right for SPCA or for any other animal society, to KILL – there’s no other way of putting it – animals ‘because more than 80 per cent of the time, the home puts animals to sleep at the request of the owner’ (Mrs Cassar Torreggiani’s own words). Nor is it right to hide the truth from animal-lovers and animal-carers such as myself as to what circumstances lead to the killing of the remaining 20 per cent.

The very fact that I decided to put pen to paper and follow-up this issue, where other people gave up, shows that unlike them, I have no political agenda. I have one aim, that being the well-being of animals and the respect of animal rights in our country. Especially by people who should know better.

I will let a few more days pass, awaiting an explanation from SPCA in this regard – failing which, I think that I will be pardoned for changing tone of letter!

Introduction.

So, here I am, starting my own space in blogworld.

For the sake of animals in Malta, of course. God knows that we need people to stimulate animal awareness in Malta. We, animal lovers and carers, have much to worry about. We need people to work in favour of our four-legged friends and to see that the environment around us is animal-friendly.

Why, you may well ask.

Well, for starters, this isn't just our planet, you know. We SHARE this planet with other non-human species.

Well, more will be said on the subject, I am sure. For now, I will stop here.