Seven out of the originally 80-strong cat colony at San Gorg Preca College in Blata l-Bajda have been reintroduced to their home after being cured and neutered by Animal Welfare and volunteer Rita Buhagiar.
The severe dwindling of the colony was down to a culling as someone unknown was poisoning the cats’ food, The Malta Independent reported earlier this month. It was confirmed by an autopsy done by Animal Welfare that the poison was primarily a blood thinner leading to internal haemorrhaging.
Mrs Buhagiar spoke to TMI on the occasion of releasing one of the cats she was personally caring for while an Animal Welfare vet released the living six out of the 12 which were in the department’s care. She told this newsroom that as recent as last Saturday, another cat had succumbed to the poisoning.
She said that she still has two more cats which she is personally taking care of and she hopes that, after the reintroduction of these cats, the poisoning doesn’t continue.
“I am afraid that, since we found another one on Saturday, the poison is still being given to the cats,” she told this newspaper.
Initially, Mrs Buhagiar offered her services to build a cat shelter to have the cats eating together in one place. Once she was asked to go to the school to neuter the cats and control the growing population, she found out about the poisoning and has been working with Animal Welfare on the issue ever since.
Mrs Buhagiar runs a non-profit organisation called Feline Welfare started a decade ago which has been caring for cats, neutering them, feeding them and getting them back to full health. One can learn more about the organisation and its work on www.felinewelfare.org.