BRING IN THE THUGS!

AND WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
MARIO SPITERI, THE MAN WHOSE REMIT IT IS TO PROTECT AND WATCH OVER ANIMALS IN MALTA AND GOZO, BRINGS IN REINFORCEMENTS!

AN INTERESTING THING APPEARS IN THE LETTERS SECTION OF THE MALTA INDEPENDENT. SATURDAY, 28TH MARCH: TWO LETTERS ABOUT ANIMAL-WELFARE, NO LESS! ONE, WRITTEN BY MARIO SPITERI AND ANOTHER ONE, BY THE REINFORCEMENTS.

LET'S START BY SPITERI'S LETTER:

Taking care of stray dogs
by Dr Mario Spiteri


The stray dogs issue has many facets. I will explain without sensationalising.

In Malta there are several dog sanctuaries full to their maximum capacity. These dogs are very well cared for by dedicated volunteers and when dogs are adopted locally or from abroad vacancies arise and other dogs abandoned on the street can be taken in. The current resident dog population in these centres is around 500.

Those officially registered NGOs that run these sanctuaries rely heavily on public and government donations to be able to feed and care for these dogs. There are also some individuals who care for dogs privately and at times end up becoming a nuisance to neighbours as a result of the continuous barking of dogs. The official stray dog population is very difficult to calculate accurately because of their mobility but from observation studies I have carried out in various localities such as Maghtab, Bahar ic-Caghaq, Pembroke, Swieqi, Naxxar, Birguma and Salina a conservative estimate would be around 300.

Dogs born in the wild in areas where food is available, such as farms, are very self reliant in order to survive. Packs are formed to facilitate hunting often led by a dominant alpha male or female and the wild wolf instinct takes over. Abandoned dogs may end up being killed or else subjudicated in these packs. Dogs that are irresponsibly allowed by their owners to roam freely at night or those that come and leave as they please from open “sanctuaries” also form packs and they literally tear to pieces all the cats and sometimes even weaker pet dogs. While stray cats’ colonies, if properly controlled by neutering and well managed in suitable areas, can be no problem the same cannot be said for dogs. Contrary to what C. Micallef asserted (TMID 20 March) surely as decent animal lovers we are not expected to condone stray dogs and cats to eat “cockroaches, mice and rats and scavenge our refuse as sharks”!

The Department for Animal Welfare Promotion and Services was first established in February 2008. I now have a small team of dedicated staff and we follow up all public reports and together with the ALE Police we investigate all sorts of complaints related to animal cruelty also involving farm animals.

Unfortunately the typical time wasting complaints about “dog left on the roof or dog barking all night” are often a thinly veiled excuse to force a neighbour to get rid of the dog as a result of some spiteful action or other as we often discover that the dog in question is well fed and provided with shelter. As the old adage goes “love me love my dog” the converse is equally true for some of these complainants!

Last year we embarked on a national neutering campaign and over e174,000 were spent to neuter some 1,500 stray and sanctuaries’ dogs and cats. Some workplaces such as those in industrial areas such as Corradino, Marsa and Bulebel have adopted dogs. These are well cared for and fed by the staff and many of these dogs were neutered in our campaign. Incidents unfortunately do happen and we regularly investigate reports about ferocious dogs biting cyclists or joggers.

People who have a phobia of dogs because of some experience are difficult to convince and a dog approaching them on a trot with tail wagging is still perceived as aggressive. This year the neutering service will once again be offered and in fact a tender was issued this month for the attention of interested parties, such as private veterinary practices.

However real attacks do happen and when a police report is filed with a medical certificate of the injury sustained by the person we are compelled to act quickly and with the use of a dart gun the responsible dog is caught. Numerous complaints about dogs butchering cats alive are investigated regularly and if we truly believe in animal welfare and not just pay lip service to the cause, the stray dog population has to be kept under strict control.

If we simply just provide more space in sanctuaries we would be simply fooling ourselves since the source of stray dogs would still be intact and I am sure that if we have three times as many sanctuaries as there are now we would soon be having the same problems within months. If the expense of feeding the current resident dog population is high how can we cope with three times the number of dogs and more? These dogs need exercise and sufficient space is essential otherwise they would maul each other to death. Ms Catania (TMID, 19 March) is shocked by the truth. I have seen dogs literally eating each other at a makeshift sanctuary or shall I say death house in Sliema where a whole pack of dogs was crammed in the house to be saved from being put down! The photographs taken of some of these “dog lovers” havens are available for all those who want to see the atrocious conditions where bits and pieces of decomposing body parts from cats and dogs are evident.

The way forward was shown last year when e175,000 were made available to NGOs for Animal Welfare initiatives, such as upgrading of current facilities in sanctuaries. Joint ventures between NGOs and government are currently being studied so that the problem of stray dogs is better tackled.

Regarding the Ta’ Qali Animal After Care Centre the construction works will be finished in a few months’ time. The aim of this building is to provide immediate veterinary assistance to stray cats and dogs. This building will be one of the first of its kind in Malta where the design is such as to blend in nicely with the environment. For public information the exact whereabouts of the centre for those who frequent Ta’ Qali is just across the road from where the Sunday market is held. The public will also benefit by having a more accessible 24-hour emergency veterinary service for their pets and pet owners who are not able to provide aftercare to their recuperating pets will be able to avail themselves of the services at the Ta’ Qali Centre.

What remains is the urgent need for all NGOs working for the welfare of animals to form an effective coalition and pool in resources. Currently the Dogs’ Act is being discussed by the Animal Welfare Council and when the new legislation comes into force a wider and more comprehensive control of dogs would be possible covering diverse areas such as breeders, sanctuaries, boarding kennels and most importantly of all compulsory micro-chipping of all dogs. This would help curtail the abandoning of dogs since their owners would be easily traced and prosecuted. With proper enforcement of this legislation dog hoarding, which at times is extremely cruel, would become illegal and those sick people involved who sometimes even require psychiatric help would be barred from keeping dogs.

Accusations that animal welfare is not being tackled seriously are grossly unfair to say the least. If coming from misinformed sources one can only hope that in the future information will be sought first before resorting to blatant accusations of negligence and broken promises. Malicious sources have their own way of spreading lies, especially in the current situation where all can become “dog lovers” overnight and collect funds from the gullible public that thinks that the dogs would truly benefit from their donations. On my books these rank equally with those who organise dog fighting. Both are equally despicable since both make money thanks to the misery and cruelty suffered by their dogs! The media should insist on full financial accountability before wholeheartedly and very naively championing the cause of some individual or other purporting to take care of the dogs. Rumours spread like wild fire on the grape vine and yet no investigative journalist dares to delve deep into this matter!



Dr Mario Spiteri