This week, the Malta Independent published a story where people were illegally parking cars under horse shelters near St Elmo in Valletta.

The article, accompanied by images, showed how horses were standing in the blazing sun just metres away from the shelter. One of the vehicles was a licensed police squad car. The arguments are many, but the blame lies squarely with those who decided to park their vehicles where they did. Others said that karozzini owners, if they had any respect for the animals, would have kicked up a fuss and called the police themselves to have the vehicles removed, or at least for fines to be issued.

In the end, the government reacted by first of all admonishing the police for parking a car there and issuing instructions to make sure it does not happen again. The police were then instructed to go and do the rounds the next day and slap fines on vehicles that were parked under the horse shelters. This is all well and good, but will it last? TMI will follow up to make sure that it does. Moreover, wardens should be sent to the area to make sure that now that the shelter is clear, karozzini owners make use of it.

No doubt, the same as usual will happen. Police will go there every day for a week and slap fines on cars. Over time, interest will wane, and motorists will again start to make use of the spot reserved for horses.  And this is where the problem lies. Several weeks ago, this newspaper published a leading article, in which it was pointed out that Maltese society is becoming one where anything goes. People lack respect for others (let alone animals) and we seem to be a rude people that just does not have any thought for consequence.

Of course, the cherry on top of the cake was when a motorist actually parked his car on the heli-pad at St Luke’s Hospital. This caused an army helicopter flight to transport an ill person to have to reroute to Luqa. It turned out that there was no actual delay. But one has to ask the question, how insensitive have we become? Incidentally, one wonders where the inquiry report into the incident has got to.

People in general do seem to be sensitive to the plight of horses that pull tourists around in karozzini in the summer. But this instance is yet another where people simply just don’t care.  We talk of putting an end to animal cruelty and abuse, but indirectly, this is exactly that – a case of abuse. Is this the way we have always been, or are we turning to the law of the jungle rather than observing the rule of law? Probably both.