The punishment must fit the crime, so runs the age-old axiom. But in cases of animal abuse, this, sadly, appears to rarely be the case.

A story we carry in today’s issue deals with the fact that since the strengthening of the Animal Welfare Department two years ago, the stiffest fine meted out to those found guilty of animal abuse was of a mere €700, despite the fact that the law provides for a maximum fine of €50,000. Many others leave the courts with only a suspended sentence.

While the law itself appears robust enough - one would be hard pressed to find anyone willing to risk a €50,000 fine for any such sick pleasure – the application of that law appears to leave an awful lot to be desired.

Now the judiciary is of course there to interpret the law, weigh the crime, and sentence appropriately. But, the vast majority of people out there would agree, the perpetrators of such heinous acts are getting off very lightly indeed.

Sadly, the abuse of animals is nothing new to the human race, nor is it new to Malta. But, nevertheless, the recent discoveries of brutal abuse inflicted upon blameless animals - as in the heart-wrenching story of Star and the horrific discovery this week of three Klieb tal-Fenek bound and thrown into the sea less than a week since several hundreds of people gathered to condemn animal cruelty - are serving as eye openers.

Now, it seems, there is a new sense of awareness and concern toward the issue gripping the country. This is not to say that before these most recent cases there had been a lack of such qualities among the populace, what we intend is that there is something of a new civic conscience in this respect that is growing amongst our ranks.

People no longer appear willing to stand for inaction on the part of the authorities, the government, or politicians, who need to enact new legislation - possibly with new, higher minimum fines - to come down hard on these criminals.

As is also suggested in the article, one legal amendment that would make a lot of sense and at the same time greatly help streamline the work of those tasked with protecting the country’s animals would be a legal amendment allowing animal welfare officers to give on the spot fines as is done in other countries and in Malta by, for example, local wardens.

As matters stand, the police need to be called into action after the animal welfare officer investigating a case files a criminal complaint with the police. This is just one matter than could be resolved painlessly and without too much controversy.

The Labour Party this week made a valid suggestion of the establishment of a system through which those found guilty of animal abuse are served with a community service order, to work in the area of animal welfare. This is another actionable notion that should be taken into serious consideration.

We have little doubt that Parliament will heed the call and provide more fitting punishments for these criminals than what we have at present.

But, then again, once that is done, it is the courts that will need to throw the book at these criminals once they make it to the dock. In the area of illegal bird hunting, for example, the courts have been seen to be repeatedly soft on those that have been found guilty, despite a raft of new fines and custodial sentences enacted years ago.

Any person of sound mind would certainly agree that animal cruelty is senseless, cold blooded, callus and utterly condemnable. But, as condemnable as it may be, the criminals charged with such acts of brutality, when they are caught, are not condemned as they should be.

For these ‘people’, for lack of a better word, the courts must mete out more appropriate custodial sentences, punitive fines, perhaps community service as suggested as well as therapy to set these individuals back on the right course in life.

After all, if a person can be so brutal with a dog, cat or horse, that person is only one step away from redirecting such savagery on his fellow human beings. Not only that, animal abuse, as we have seen in so many cases, is an illness or at the very least the outward manifestation of an illness - one that needs to be treated. And the thing is that message of relative leniency is being relayed to other abusers.

Suspended prison sentences will simply not do. Not any longer. People are calling out for change and it is the politicians’ duty to see those calls answered.