Members of the Abandoned Animals Association are concerned about the fate of two dogs and a bird stranded in an empty house in Mosta after their elderly owner was hospitalised.

An arrangement was made for AAA helpers to feed the dogs daily accompanied by two policemen from the Mosta police station, but on occasion a particular sergeant and a constable refuse to accompany the helpers, the AAA claimed.

Romina Formosa, an AAA helper, said: "We do not encounter problems to feed the dogs when other officers happen to be on duty".

When contacted, a senior police officer at the Mosta station confirmed the situation, explaining that the two officers have their reservations about shouldering the responsibility of going into a private residence.

Moreover, the officer added, they cannot be obliged to go with the AAA helpers because this did not fall in their line of duty.

Ms Formosa said the story started four weeks ago when the woman, aged over 80, fell accidentally and had to be hospitalised.

Worried that her dogs - a springer and chihuahua - and a bird would die if left on their own, the woman spoke to the police at the Mosta station who, in turn, contacted Alfred Fenech of the AAA to help.

At first, it was suggested that the AAA would take the dogs to its sanctuary in Luqa, but Mr Fenech insisted this was not advisable because the dogs were old and were too used to a home environment. He believed they would die if they were transferred to the sanctuary.

So it was decided that AAA helpers would call daily at the home to feed the animals. An arrangement was made to keep the keys of the house at the station and that two police officers would be kind enough to accompany Ms Formosa or someone else from the AAA to the house to feed the dogs.

"Because of the problem with the two officers, on Wednesday, the dogs were not fed. I could not hold back tears when I remembered those hungry animals in that house. I also dread the thought of finding them dead," animal lover Ms Formosa said.

It was not the first time the dogs had to remain unfed, she said.

She said that yesterday another sergeant was brought over from the Qawra police station to accompany her to the house and feed the dogs.

Ms Formosa said they never expected such a problem, more so since it was the police themselves who had requested the AAA's assistance in this case.

It was not the first time that the AAA answered police calls at night to pick up animals that were hit by vehicles and left injured at the roadside, she said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.