Despite the positive outcome of a meeting with the Saint Vincent De Paul administration, which promised to allow residents to feed cats and the introduction of cat cafés and shelters, Animal Guardians Malta said it will still endeavour to find out what happened to a number of cats that went missing from the residence grounds.

In a statement, the NGO said a meeting was held yesterday between its representatives, SVPR CEO Josianne Cutajar and Ian Vella for the Commissioner for Animal Rights.

All parties agreed that there will be no ban on staff and residents feeding cats, however this shall not be done in the wards. Clean plastic containers are to be used.

“A cat sanctuary with cat cafés, shelters, and benches is going to be set up in a specific area, within St Vincent De Paul, which has already been identified. This area shall be accessible to the residents, including those who are wheelchair bound. A draft of the sanctuary plan shall be drafted by Animal Guardians Malta and presented within a week to the SVDP Administration.”

Animal Guardians said it shall also present the structure of the SCAN Team. The Stray Cat Action Network Team will consist of residents, staff and Animal Guardians Malta representatives. “The SCAN Team shall run the cat sanctuary and be able to set up a bank account and raise funds in order to provide food for the cats.”

The NGO also said that all cats will be neutered and micro-chipped. A contract will be drafted and signed to “solidify” the agreement.

The group also reported that the SVPR CEO again denied claims that any of the cats or kittens were removed on order from the hospital management. “We shall now leave this matter to be investigated using other means,” it said.

Last week the group reported that residents and staff alike were not permitted to feed the cats living on the residence grounds and alleged that men with cages were seen trapping cats around two months ago. In comments to this paper, Dr Cutajar had explained that signs telling people not to feed the cats were put up some months ago but were later removed because of the negative way they were perceived by the NGO. She said that the measure was taken to prevent the spread of infection after cat faeces were found inside the building. She also insisted that no instructions had been given for the removal of cats from the premises.

The Animal Welfare Directorate said last week that it had been called by the hospital staff to find and relocate three kittens that were wandering in the wards. However people who called this newsroom said they were concerned about a separate incident two months previous where people “identified as hospital staff” caged and removed a number of cats. These felines have not been seen since.