Malta is no place for zoos, new Animal Welfare commissioner Fleur Abela told The Malta Independent on Sunday in an interview. People who own exotic animals and are in line with the law should not have them taken away, but more exotic animals should not be allowed to be brought into the country.
Asked about calls for the trade and importation of exotic animals to be at the very least restricted, if not banned completely, and for more enforcement on these animals, Abela said that if those who are keeping these animals are keeping them in line with European standards, the authorities cannot go to them and take them away.
This is especially the case if those animals are registered, she said. The government granted an amnesty to those who had exotic animals which were not registered to register them without facing a fine or criminal sentence, and she said that there were several who came forward to do this.
"What I can say, and it is my recommendation, is that when these animals pass away, others do not come in," Abela said.
She said that there has not been enough enforcement when it comes to the importation and exportation of not just these exotic animals, but also of cats and dogs, and talks with the Customs Department to this end may be needed so that there are improvements.
With regards to zoos, Abela is firm: Malta is no place for them.
"If you ask me personally about zoos, I don't go to them because it saddens me to see animals which do not belong caged, be caged," she said.
"Do I agree that zoos are in Malta or not? Unfortunately - and some won't enjoy my answer - the answer is no. Malta is not the place to have lions and tigers; their place is in safaris and where they have space to run," she continued.
Threats and stones thrown in the road: what Abela faced when being appointed
It hasn't been an easy transition into the role for Abela.
She succeeded Alison Bezzina, who was in the role for five years before being told a week before her contract ended that it would not be renewed.
The appointment of Abela, who is the daughter of former judge and former Labour Party Deputy Leader Toni Abela, was greeted with some raised eyebrows and some protesting comments from certain entities. The political party Momentum, for instance, decried the appointment as "political interference".
Asked about this, Abela said that she had gone "above and beyond" her duty already - despite the fact that she has even faced threats for taking on the position in the first place.
"When I started people's expectations were that we'd end up worse than we were. When they realised we have a commissioner who is ready to get onto an airplane with less than 12 hours' notice to investigate a situation, it means we have a commissioner who is truly committed to the cause," Abela said.
"You have some who are not appointed politically and still don't do their job; you have others who are politically appointed and they go above and beyond the line of duty. In my case, I've gone above and beyond. Those who don't have alternative interests other than the animals are realising that [my appointment] was a good choice," she said.
She said that whether people will continue to believe that is up to whether she continues to prove herself to the community and the animals she is there to protect.
"Was I pleased with [political statements]? No. Did I get threatened? Yes, several times right up to this day," she said.
Asked to elaborate, she said that some people had told her that if she did not renounce her position they would go looking for her and her dog. There were other instances where people threw rocks at her and her dog in the street, and where people made threats against her family, she said.
"It's ironic that there are people who are meant to be animal lovers but are ready to hurt people," she lamented.
"I will keep working for the animal's interests and nobody else - not NGOs or activists and not politicians," she said.
Big push on dog adoptions and re-homing
Abela said that over the past three months, her main priorities have been promoting adoption and re-homing, particularly of dogs, as well as vetting Malta's current legislation to understand what the situation is, where there can be improvements, and where Malta is also ahead of some countries.
"When I first came into the role I knew that it comes with a lot of responsibility vis-a-vis animal rights and animal welfare," she said.
She said, for example, that when it comes to punitive measures on animal abuse and abandonment, Malta has among the harshest penalties compared to other countries.
Abela noted that in the period since her appointment, one of the success stories has been the adoption and homing of over 30 dogs and the reversal of a transfer of 20 dogs to a shelter in Sicily.
Abela pointed out that the transfer had been approved during her predecessor's tenure* and that the impression that the shelter that the dogs were to be transferred to was a "concentration camp" or a kill shelter was completely mistaken.
She said that the transfer was "almost imposed" due to the fact that there were 86 dogs awaiting adoption at the Animal Welfare Directorate's dog section - three quarters of which long-stayers.
Earlier this month, the Commission ran a campaign in conjunction with the Malta Football Association and the MSPCA at the BOV Super Cup, where the players walked out onto the pitch accompanied by dogs which were up for adoption.
"We want to move forward with other associations and entities to promote the adoption of dogs," Abela said.
There will also be push on promotions: Abela said that the Commission is looking to rebrand itself and use social media more effectively. "Many say that if you promote adoptions and re-homing on television, that's all it takes: in truth, over the last three months I've seen that it's not all it takes," she said.
A focus has also been placed on the concept of shopping and adopting responsibly, Abela said as she noted that there have been trends over the past years where a particular breed of dog or cat is seen as the trend or status symbol of the time - such as Toy Poodles, the Dachshund, the King Charles, and now lately the Cockapoo.
"You can buy these dogs - I understand why people would want to, especially if they are looking for hypo-allergenic dogs or dogs where they know what size they will be. But even when buying them, you can't just say you want them as a status symbol. You need to see the financial repercussions of having them, potential future health issues they might face, whether you have time for them ... even small dogs need exercise," she said.
Animal Welfare Commission made up of just five members of staff
It's important to understand the function of the Animal Welfare Commission. The first point to keep in mind is that the Animal Welfare Directorate is separate, and does not fall under the Commission's responsibility.
Indeed, the Commission is responsible for investigating the Directorate should it be accused of any shortcomings.
This in itself has already resulted in Abela administering changes in the Commission's structures when it comes to administering adoptions of dogs and the relationship between the Directorate and the Commission.
"There used to be one person responsible for this: she worked with the Commission and she used to be at the Animal Welfare Directorate every day - but I had to look at the legislative aspect," she said.
"When you look at how the Commission is put together and its legal role, one of those roles is to investigate the Directorate where there may have been shortcomings. If someone is there every day, almost leading the Directorate's Dog Section, it is a problem because I cannot then go against the director if there are shortcomings," she said.
Abela said that the situation at the Directorate was such as some dogs "were literally disintegrating before my eyes", and she felt an obligation to both the dogs and the staff and volunteers who try to find homes for these dogs.
The adoption system has now come under the Commission's wing and it is working to the point that over 30 dogs have been adopted.
She also commented that after many years, all the sanctuaries in Malta are coming together to try and help the system.
"Maybe because we diverged from our priorities, we had a system with no structure. So today it is being structured slowly," she said.
The Commission is made up of just five people - and Abela said that the staff is run very thin: there is one inspector to follow-up on calls reporting abuse or unsanitary conditions, and one person responsible for social media and the Adopt a Pet website among other things.
"Over the last three months, we've tried to make it work. I am asking for some more resources so we can increase from five, but it doesn't depend on me," she said.
Pigeon culling falls under Health Ministry as it is a matter of public hygiene - Abela
One recent controversy related to animals is a government plan to capture and cull feral pigeons: something which has created debate, particularly as some have argued that there is a more humane way of going about controlling the pigeon population.
Asked about this, Abela said that this matter does not fall under the Commissioner's office nor the Ministry for Animal Rights - it falls under the Health Ministry, because the issue tends to revolve around public hygiene.
"I'm not an expert on pigeons. On whether they can be killed in a more humane manner or not, the end result is that they will be killed. What I know for sure though is that chunks of the population have to deal with their homes being filled with pigeon excrement," she said.
As an example she cited one man who had called her and "ended up in a depression" because he had spent €15,000 for someone to clean his house façade, and within two weeks it was a mess again because of the pigeons in the area.
She lamented that animals have become a part of politics rather than something to unite the country. "Instead of something to unite the country that we can use to get the good out of the people, it's being used by one or the other side to get brownie points or by an activist to amplify their profile," she said.
"It's good that you have people who are vociferous, but it's easy to criticise - you then have to propose solutions," she added.
She said that the only thing she could say is that she doesn't want to see them die. "Other than that, though, I don't have the answers. That's up to the experts," she said.
Abela added that one has to see if there is a more humane way for this to be done, and whether there was a way to avoid killing them without causing other problems - but noted it's also a question of opinion as some see pigeons as pests and others believe they should be protected.
Malta's big contradiction: A love for animals, a protection of hunting
Malta has something of a contradiction when it comes to animals: it is a deeply animal-loving country, but also protects the practice of hunting steadfastly - the public voted to protect spring hunting in a referendum and the government continues to allow the practice, despite European opposition.
Asked whether, from an animal welfare perspective, she feels that there is a contradiction in this, Abela said that there is an even bigger contradiction in the sense that hunters are some of the most avid and responsible dog owners one will ever meet.
"However, responsible hunters follow European laws. When a hunter shoots down a protected bird, or goes hunting outside of the hunting season, those who are responsible don't tell him well done - a lot of them are angry because that person is putting their hobby at risk," Abela said.
"The contradiction is here: you have some big animal lovers in Malta and hunters many times are among the first to say that abuse against animals is unacceptable," she said.
"Personally I'm not a hunter or a trapper because I don't agree with the practice, but I don't feel like I should be the person to go to hunters and tell them to stop," she continued.
"If they are following the EU, which we are members of, we cannot just say 'no more'," she said.
She noted that there was a referendum with the outcome being what it was - "so we are either going to follow that or not... but the people back then were given a chance to make their voices heard".
When pointed out that Malta is currently subject to infringement proceedings from the European Commission, Abela said that the matter is a quasi-judicial process and she does not feel at liberty to discuss it.
*Errate Corrige: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that Fleur Abela said that the decision to transfer 20 dogs to a shelter was approved by her predecessor. Abela said that the decision was approved during her predecessor's time. The error is regretted.