I have never hurt an animal – except for the creepy crawlies and annoying flies and mosquitoes – and I hate seeing animals in distress. When, some time ago, a days-old kitten fell in a shaft I did not have access to and I heard it whining from my bedroom, I moved heaven and earth to have it saved. I was upset when it took longer than expected for the rescuers to arrive, and kept making calls to people I know to get things moving as fast as possible.

I was also prepared to adopt her once she recovered, but unfortunately she died while in the care of the Animal Welfare Department. Although I had only held her for a few seconds after she had been lifted out of her misery by the animal rescue team, I was heartbroken when I was told that Jellytot had not made it. Yes, I had already given her a name, and I had asked animal experts to tell me what I needed to do to ease her into her new life in my home with my other cat, Sheva. But it was all in vain.

When Sheva could not settle down after I moved house recently and she spent the first 10 days cowering under the stairs with hardly any food and drink, I was extremely worried she would not survive. There are people who can vouch for this, as I frantically called them to try to find ways how to bring her out of her misery, and I celebrated when she finally started being her normal mischievous self. Now she acts as if she owns the place. She is always at the door when I return home and follows me around the house when I’m there.

I speak of these personal experiences because I do not want to come across as someone who dislikes animals, or who does not respect them. But I am sure that what I will say now will not be well-received by the hard-line animal lovers, and some might be offended too. All I want to do however is to say that we should not exaggerate, because extremism is wrong wherever it comes from and in whatever area it is.

I think there is a great difference between being decent to animals and taking care of them like members of the family, and going to the extreme of having a monument dedicated to one of them, like the one that was unveiled to commemorate the dog called Star at the San Frangisk Animal Clinic in Ta’ Qali last Sunday. Just as much as it is sad that animals are ill treated and abused, it is equally sad, not to say silly, that they are idolised.

The story of Star angered most of us, including those who do not love animals but would never hurt them. Her ordeal was horrendous, and her story reached all corners of the world. I remember corresponding by email with a Canadian woman who wanted to send Star a blanket from that far away place, and I helped her contact the right persons to fulfil her wish.

The local media followed her story until her death a few weeks later, ironically on the day that a protest march was held against animal cruelty, and it was a great thing that TV stations and newspapers used Star’s story to raise so much awareness about the need to protect animals. Calling for harsher penalties for people who are guilty of animal cruelty was just one of the ways through which the media pushed the authorities into adopting a tougher stand against perpetrators.

Still, having said this, I find it inappropriate that the authorities decided to have a monument dedicated to the dog. True, it is located in an animal clinic, where it will be venerated by people who love animals, and it is therefore in context, so to speak. True, it was unveiled on the first anniversary of the opening of that clinic, an important step in the care and treatment of animals.

But I cannot bring myself to accept that someone thought of having such a monument, and that the idea was accepted and implemented.

A few days ago, we had another sad incident involving a dog. Her name was Gaia, and she was dumped in a skip. She was still breathing when she was discovered by a passer-by but was unable to survive her ordeal. So, now, are we going to have a monument for Gaia too? Are we going to have monuments of dogs and other abused animals dotting our island?

If Star was honoured with a monument, Gaia would like to have one too, wouldn’t she? Didn’t she suffer as well?

Many times it has taken us years to dedicate a monument to some local personality who was revered in his lifetime and afterwards. For example, the monument to the national poet, Dun Karm Psaila, was unveiled in October 2000, a full 39 years after his death. Some others are still waiting their turn, even though they died years ago.

And yet it took us just a few months to raise Star to the level of those who did so much to make this country better or who contributed to its history, culture and politics. What’s next, shall we change the name of Republic Street and call it Star Avenue?

Too much is too much.

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