Dog shot in the head

Laws against cruelty to animals needed to be enforced to the full and offenders sent to prison, an angry Alfred Fenech of the Abandoned Animals Association insisted yesterday.

He was referring to the killing of a fine, two-year-old tal-kacca dog which someone had shot in the head and left by the wayside on a country road near Dingli.

Mr Fenech said a woman had told him on Sunday that a dog was lying injured next to a wall and when he went there he found the dog was seriously injured, suffering from a gunshot wound to the right side of its head.

He immediately took the animal to veterinarian Adrian Vella in Qormi but it died during a surgical intervention. A number of shotgun pellets were removed from its head.

Mr Vella, who has reported the incident to the police, said cases of such cruelty to animals were frequent and severe action should be taken to punish the offenders when caught.