A Frenchman who brought his dog to Malta last Thursday night and who subsequently learnt it had been put down at the quarantine section said he would leave no stone unturned to find out why his dog was put to sleep.
Alain Goldhagen, a Parisian who works for an oil company in Libya, came to Malta for a holiday last week. His wife, Singapore-born Chantal, had come a few days earlier and the couple were planning to look for a property where his wife could stay while he worked in Libya.
Visibly shaken by the loss of his dog, Bonnie, a six-year-old beagle, Mr Goldhagen showed copies of his dog`s record of vaccination from Mount Pleasant Animal Hospital, Singapore and a rabies inoculation certificate from a French vet. He also showed a copy of the import licence signed by the chief government vet, Dr Lino Vella.
Mr Goldhagen said they had bought the dog in Singapore and it had been taken to France and Libya before being brought to Malta.
"In Tripoli, I was asked by the Air Malta representatives whether I had an import licence for the dog, and I told them I had. I paid the excess luggage for the dog and was under the impression that Customs in Malta would take care of the dog as my agents had prepared all the paperwork in advance," he said.
The plane arrived from Tripoli at about 10.45 p.m. and he picked up his luggage and left: "I simply trusted that the people in Malta would do their job," he said.
"The dog was in a proper animal carrying case, had an expensive collar, a metal tag with its licence number and a tattoo in one of its ears. It was very evident it was not a stray dog," Mrs Goldhagen said.
Mr Goldhagen said a person from the quarantine section had told him over the phone that a dog had been found unaccompanied and without any documents in the arrivals hall and was immediately put down on instructions from the vet.
An airport employee yesterday phoned The Times after reading the story in The Sunday Times and said she saw the dog in its cage in the baggage reclaim area.
"I heard this dog moaning and went to see what breed it was as the only dogs we see here are the customs dogs which are used to check for drugs.
"It had evidently come with the luggage and was alone in the baggage reclaim area.
"I gave the dog some water and called the quarantine section but the watchman refused to have it as he said he did not have any documents for it.
"To me it was evident this was someone`s pet and I stayed around with it until about 2 a.m. I spoke to an Air Malta representative who said they were trying to contact Tripoli to see who the owner was. I was very disturbed to read that the animal had been put to sleep," she said.
Aaron Stivala, whose agency handled the paperwork, said that when he obtained the import licence on behalf of Mr Goldhagen last week, he was told that the department of agriculture had informed the quarantine section about it.
Mr Goldhagen was still somewhat hopeful: "I am still hoping that it was not our dog which was put down but a stray. I know I am hoping against hope, but I cannot believe how anyone seeing a dog such as ours would not realise that the dog was well cared for.
"I will have a meeting with my lawyer about the matter. If our dog was killed, I want to find out what went wrong and why," Mr Goldhagen said.
The chief government vet said on Saturday that he had still to verify what had happened. He said that as a policy, dogs brought without any documentation from North African countries were put to sleep because of a fear they might be infected with rabies.
He said it was not enough for people to obtain import licences - they had to inform the department and customs beforehand so that arrangements would be made so that when animals arrive they would be taken in quarantine.