Animal rights activists have slammed a recently announced scheme that will give a €150 grant to anyone who adopts a pet from a rescue shelter and there is good reason for it.
When announcing the scheme on Monday, the Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights, Clint Camilleri, said the aim was to emphasise the importance of adopting animals. He also said that the scheme will improve the quality of life of these animals.
Activists in the field, however, feel that the scheme, although well-meaning, could have the opposite effect.
Camilleri said there will be checks and balances, which include check-ups to ensure that the animals are well kept, while the money will only be handed over after a six-month period. But the critics say that some people will still take up the scheme for the money only, and dump their pets once the cheque is cashed.
Others have said that this scheme is unfair towards the countless groups of volunteers who care for injured, sick and stray animals but who do not have their own sanctuary. Many of these people keep these vulnerable pets at their own homes, or go through the trouble of finding foster carers for them. Yet this scheme will not apply to them because only sanctuary animals are eligible for this scheme.
Obviously, not all people will be so cruel and ditch their adopted cats and dogs at the side of a road after cashing in the €150. But there might be some who do it.
The problem per se, we feel, is not that people will abuse of the scheme, but rather that people should not be encouraged to adopt a pet by dangling a cheque in front of their faces.
The focus should be on helping these sanctuaries and other groups provide better conditions for the animals they care for, and also to better address the situation leading to these pets ending up in shelters in the first place.
Some critics of the scheme have said that the money being given out should instead be used to upgrade the animal pens at Ghammieri, and to give more assistance to animal shelters.
Many of these facilities lack adequate protection for the animals both during the sizzling summer and cold and wet winters.
The government has given limited funds to animal shelters, but the amounts given are simply not enough to cover all expenses, which include the purchase of food, energy bills and veterinary costs.
The authorities must also take neutering more seriously. Until now, the only real efforts in this field have been made by NGOs, some of them foreign. This task should be given to the animal welfare department, because these NGOs barely have enough funds to keep their shelters open, let alone to chase down stray animals and pay for their neutering and spaying bills.
Another angle that the government should look into is the highly unregulated animal breeding ‘market’. Much stricter controls need to be introduced for the breeding of cats and dogs, and these must be enforced. While many breeders take their work seriously and adhere to the laws, others do not, as had been reported in the past by this newspaper.