Abandoned Animals Association founder Freddie Fenech arrived at The Malta Independent offices yesterday morning with a sad case of a dog that was blinded after a hit-and-run car accident.

He was rescued after residents in Qormi spotted the dog, bleeding heavily from one eye, and called Mr Fenech for help. He immediately went for the dog and took it to vet Victor Vassallo for treatment. “I am not appealing for this dog to be adopted, he is blind in one eye and may even lose it yet, and we have to see how things turn out. I just want people to know what is going on, hundreds of such incidents take place every month in Malta,” he said.

“It is not right. Some motorists hit animals and just leave them there to fend for themselves. They should have enough responsibility to at least phone the authorities to prevent both additional danger on the road and of course to try and help the animal,” he said.

Mr Fenech is in the process of collecting petitions to present to President Edward Fenech Adami, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Opposition leader Alfred Sant and Archbishop Joseph Mercieca to hopefully set up an Animal Hospital. “I have a little helper, Evair Grech, who is already training to be a vet and he will present the petitions. I hope the message will get through. More and more youngsters are sick and fed up of the situation,” he said.

Mr Fenech also told TMID that the AAA was only waiting for one final signature for a long-awaited tract of land to be allocated to the association by the government to open a sanctuary out in the country. “All we need is the final word and things will be so much easier. We have collected a substantial sum of money to build the sanctuary and we will be well out of the way, we will bother no one over there,” he said. Mr Fenech thanked all those organisations and individuals that help him by donating food, money and all manner of things. He particularly thanked Dr Vassallo. “He helps us a great deal. Sometimes he takes no money from me to treat our dogs, but I cannot let him do that, just the other week I received some cheque donations and the money went straight to him,” he said.

Meanwhile, another TMID reader came to our offices to complain about a sight she could not believe she had just witnessed. “I was driving past Manoel Island at about 4pm yesterday when I saw two Shetland ponies jammed into the back seat of a car. It was a red car although I am not sure what make it was.”

She said that there was no driver in the vehicle. “It was just outside the Bank of Valletta in Gzira. At 4pm the sun was still beating down and it was very hot. That alone was cruel enough, but what if an accident took place on the road? What if the animals kicked out while the car was in motion? The driver could have lost control and caused a nasty accident.”