Editorial

With so much happening lately, the recent protest march in Valletta by people calling for greater protection of animal rights may have not received as much attention as it deserved.

Some, angry at the inability or unwillingness of those in authority to apply already existing laws, are forcefully calling for the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act. A letter handed out to MPs at the Palace, pointed out that although many incidents of animal cruelty continued to be reported, there was very little evidence so far of prosecutions.

Represented at the march were the Animal Rights Society, Azzjoni Pozittiva, Catcare Association, Community Animal Welfare Society, GLUE, International Animal Rescue (Malta), Island Sanctuary, Moviment Graffiti, National Cat Society, Nature Trust, St Francis Foundation for Animals, Support for Abandoned Animals and World Animal Conscience. Although the Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (SPCA) was not among the organisers, the president and other committee members took part in the protest.

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, on being presented by the activists with a petition carrying well over 8,348 signatures, said the police were doing their utmost to book culprits. But the organisers were unconvinced.

Mr Michael Pearson, acting on their behalf, said that many volunteer workers and supporters were concerned that the new legislation was not being treated with the seriousness it deserved. "The animal protection NGOs are willing to assist the police in investigating cases of animal cruelty, and arranging appropriate training for law enforcement officers," he said.

Fair enough. We are all sure the police need all the help they can get. In arguing for better treatment for animals, we must be careful not to shoot ourselves in the foot, making it out as if we were worse than others. That may be so or it may not, but the very zeal with which the fight is being fought would seem to point to ever more of us caring very much for animals. The highlighting of cases could also point in the same direction.

Are we as a people inclined to be thoughtless and sadistically cruel? God forbid. It is because we care that we cannot allow the forces of order to turn a blind eye to certain very blatant acts. It is not as if we are looking for a scapegoat. It is because as a people we care, and look down very severely on the few malevolents among us. We want the already existing laws to be applied. New action on the part of the public multiplies. The Gozo Animal Sanctuary Association, for example, is raising money to set up an animal sanctuary. Already, the police and the SPCA have agreed to hold meetings on a regular basis.

It is a duty of civilised societies to see that animals are not ill-treated. We may disagree about how we vent our anger or express our great love for animals, but we are all agreed that it is a duty on our part, and an expression of solidarity with creation, to care for animals.

We must educate ourselves not to make animals victims of our hate, frustration or sense of inferiority. It is a failure of our humanity to compensate for our limitations by bullying animals. Dulled hearts make dangerous citizens, and we look askance at cruelty to animals in real life. The public is rightly asking for greater action by the forces of law and order.