18 organisations and animal rights activists have written to the Prime Minister to express their concern about animals that are suffering.
The letter appeals for immediate action to stop the suffering of animals in Malta, as activists are arguing that animal welfare actions are being delayed:
"Over the past months and years, we have brought to your administration’s attention a list of basic needs which are absolutely necessary to help improve the lives of animals in Malta and Gozo. In principle, and to our faces, the Ministry has always agreed and welcomed our ideas and suggestions, but for the most part, none of them has been delivered," the activists said.
The signatories said they had several meetings, public protests, and underwent countless of work to mitigate animal suffering, yet as the activists stated, "we only keep on getting promises and nothing else, whilst in the meantime, the suffering continues."
Ten issues have been included in the open letter by the activists:
𝟏. 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝟐. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐖 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐖 𝐆𝐨𝐳𝐨
𝟑. 𝐀 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭
𝟒. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐖 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬
𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬
𝟔. 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧
𝟕. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝟖. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐙𝐨𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 / 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
𝟗. 𝐎𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝟏𝟎. 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐖 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐳𝐨
It was also stated that these concerns were already presented to the Government, the latter already agreeing on taking action.
‘The Government keeps reiterating that most of the above are in the pipeline, but we have waited and waited and waited, whilst watching the suffering increase, and the situation gets worse.’
A precise timeline for the public is expected by the activists on the aforementioned concerns.
Other animal rights activists who spoke to The Malta Independent reported that these issues, apart from being rampant, are a wake-up call for everyone who has animals at heart.
The open letter was appealed by the undersigned:
Moira Delia, Romina Frendo, Fiona Broome Camilleri, Real Animal Rights Foundation - RAR Malta Vo1976 , Island Sanctuary, Abandoned Animals Association, Animal Liberation Malta, Buddy’s Lost and Found Page, C.L.A.W.S, MSPCA, Gozo SPCA, CSAF, Tomasina Cat Sanctuary, Animal Care Malta, Innocent Paws, Noah's Ark Dog Sanctuary, Fostering and Homing Paws, Kitty Guardians for Strays, Shiny Paws, Voice for the Voiceless, RMJ Horse Rescue.