78-year-old Giuseppe Salerno from Fgura is pleading not guilty to failing to restrain dogs under his care. In previous court sittings, Mr Salerno said that only four of the dogs in question were his and he was simply taking care of the other 16. He is fiercely defensive of these dogs, having claimed that he would be “ready to die for them”.

Yesterday he told magistrate Antonio Mizzi that he had locked up all the dogs until he found a suitable home for them.