Volunteers not enough to secure animal welfare (1)

Elvia Leone Ganado (May 14) is to be commended for trying to help a stray dog. It would have been so easy to just kick the dog out... and, no doubt, most people would have taken the easy way out. I know from personal experience how hard it is to find a home for an unwanted dog. I speak for all the committee and the majority of the Island Sanctuary Association volunteers ‒ the reason we have more than one dog (and cats too!) is because we too could not admit the strays we find to our sanctuary, nor could we find suitable homes for them. In the circumstances, our only option was to keep them ourselves.

Ms Leone Ganado wrote: "I am baffled. Why do we campaign against cruelty to animals? I did my best to help this poor helpless creature but all I got are closed doors. What am I being told? Turn a blind eye next time round? Do we really want these dogs on the streets, starving, being maltreated by somebody or being run over by a car?"

I would at least like to answer her first and last questions. We campaign against cruelty in the hope that people like the dog's owner (who abandoned him in the first place) would learn what it means to be a responsible pet owner.

We campaign in favour of neutering in the hope that every puppy born would be assured of a good home, instead of faced with an uncertain future on the streets or being killed because no one wants him or her.

As to the last question, the answer of animal lovers would be a resounding no! Unfortunately, though, that is as far as it goes for most people. To quote Winston Churchill: "Never has so much been owed by so many, to so few".

These words are so appropriate to describe the situation in Malta when it comes to animal welfare.

It does not make sense to expect the handful of volunteers involved in animal welfare to make up for the lack of action of the rest of the population!

If more people would actively involve themselves, instead of expecting the government to solve the problem (or the overworked and understaffed sanctuaries!) we might change the situation.