The term 'dangerous dog breed list' as used in a bill put forward by the government could be subject to change, Animal Rights Minister Anton Refalo indicated in response to questions posed by The Malta Independent

Amendments to the Animal Welfare Act, which proposes creating a list of animal abusers who will be prohibited from owning animals for a period of time, is currently making its way through Parliament. The amendments also cater to the concept of 'dangerous dogs', and read: "The Minister may make regulations providing for a list of certain dog breeds which are considered to be dangerous including the manner in which such dog breeds are to be regulated.".

However the latter proposal is one that raised eyebrows. PN spokesperson for animal welfare Janice Chetcuti, as well as animal welfare activists, have argued that no particular breed is dangerous, unless it has been raised in that regard.

Responding to questions, Refalo said that the word 'dangerous' could be removed from the dog breed list.

He said that in the Parliamentary Committee stage, "there could be fine tuning of the bill to see that, if needed, the word dangerous would be removed and changed."

"We sought the opinion of many experts, amongst them the Commisioner for Animal Welfare," Refalo said. "In the Committee stage this important point can be discussed," he added.

Asked what kind of regulation he foresees for these breeds, Refalo said that since the bill is still being discussed "we discuss first, we propose the law and then we will have the law and can better discuss."

The new bill also proposed changing the legal definition of a "circus" to be: "any exhibition put on by exhibitors for profit, and viewed by the public for entertainment which offers amusement and display, and where animals are made to perform tricks or manoeuvres, which do not reflect their natural behaviour or does not offer any educational value."

In this regard PN MP Chetcuti pointed out an issue with this proposal as it allows exceptions to the use of animals as "props or extras in artistic, theatrical, or cinematic performances, sporting competitions or any other events" asking if those exceptions are green-lit by the director of veterinary services.

Asked whether this bill will affect the Mediterraneo Marine Park, which has been the subject of some controversy this past year, the minister said that the park is not a circus, but is a zoo.  "We are saying that those zoos which are already there do not fall under this law".

Asked if there should be such a differentiation, the minister said: "If God wills it, we are proposing another law, but those zoos which are already there and have existed for a number of years will continue to be regulated as they are currently."

Moviment Graffitti, Animal Liberation Malta and a number of other organizations have called for the closure of the Mediterraneo Marine Park because "three of the Park's dolphins died mysteriously last year, yet no action has been taken against the so-called Marine Park."  The death of these three dolphins is solely a result of the Park's negligence, the NGOs said. This only proves that Mediterraneo Marine Park is nothing more than a poorly disguised circus, whose interests are solely financial, they added.

In a statement in response to such calls, the park had said the protestors "repeated several lies" about Mediterraneo Marine Park. It said that the park follows strict standards and regulations in line with the most recent EU directives. This is a highly regulated sector and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously,t said. "The dolphin presentations at Mediterraneo Marine Park are educational and have a veterinarian function that helps us protect the well-being of the dolphins on a daily basis." It is also not true that the accidental dolphin deaths last year were in any way mysterious or hidden, the park said. "We immediately reported the deaths to the authorities and held transparent investigations that identified what went wrong: lead poisoning caused by strictly forbidden equipment that was used by an external diver who was cleaning one of the pools. We have taken steps to ensure this tragedy does not repeat itself," the park said,