The government has set animals and animal lovers back a hundred years by introducing a legal notice which dictates that people who feed hungry animals are to be fined €50, the Nationalist Party said in a statement on Tuesday.

PN MP Janice Abela Chetcuti said that the legal notice in question states that a person who feeds cats without being registered on a cat feeder registry shall be fined. “If an individual is registered as a cat feeder in a locality, but happens to be in another locality, he will also incur the fine,” she added. She commented that establishing a register is good, as several Local Councils have been doing this for years, but she added that it is not acceptable for one to be fined for not being on such a registry.

The MP said that a PN government would be in favour of animals and their protection, “because the Nationalist party believes that they should be given all the attention they deserve”. She continued that in light of this recent development, “the Nationalist Party asks where the values that we are supposed to be passing on to our children have gone so that if they see a hungry animal they don’t turn away, but help it”. She added that the PN also wonders how a “caring and conscientious” society can be created if the government threatens people with a fine for taking care of hungry animals.

She concluded by saying that this is being done while there are regular cases of individuals committing various criminal acts but the relevant authorities then “invent any excuse to turn their face the other way and cover up what has happened”.