Kurt Bugeja Coster
Sliema house disinfected after 23 dogs are taken away
District police assisted by the Association for Abandoned Animals (AAA) yesterday seized 23 dogs from a residence in Carmel Street, Sliema.
In a four-hour operation, volunteers extracted the dogs, two of them puppies, from "filthy" conditions following a court order to evacuate and disinfect the house.
Eyewitnesses said a stench could be smelt several metres away.
AAA founder Alfred Fenech said he was more than willing to assist the police and seize the dogs on condition that none of them is put down.
Although volunteers wore respiratory masks, the smell inside the house was unbearable, Mr Fenech said.
Surprisingly the woman turned out to be an animal lover, taking in strays but the situation got out of hand.
The dogs were briefly examined on site by Duncan Chetcuti Ganado from the government vet section and found to be suffering from dermatitis by fleas and mange caused as a result of poor hygienic conditions.
The canines were taken to the AAA sanctuary where they will be cared for by volunteers.
Medicine has been prescribed and once they recover, they will be put up for adoption, Mr Fenech said.
The woman, who has moved while fumigation of the residence continues by the Health Division, has been asked to spend time at the sanctuary for both the dogs' and her benefit.
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Sylvia Zammit
Aug 12th 2008, 21:08
Though the person has not been named, this is not the first time this has happened. 3 years ago Island Sanctuary was asked to rescue 32 dogs from a warehouse in Zabbar rented by the same 'animal lover'. The poor dogs were living in filth - covered with fleas, and some had mange.Proper care and TLC restored them to health, but even after 3 years some are still too scared to be homed. One particular bitch had obviously just had puppies - but we never found a trace of them!
The 40 cats inside fared much worse - only 10 survived! The warehouse was fumigated, and Yes - the stench could be smelt from afar! What kind of life is that for dogs and cats? The woman ended up in court, but nothing has changed! Aparently, she's still free to start 'saving' even more strays! Notwithstanding her good intentions ,she did not do these poor animals any favour. They might have fared better on the street if someone had been ready to care for them. It's about time such people are stopped - they should not even be allowed to keep a single cat/dog, let alone a so called 'sanctuary'.