In defence of animals

I refer to Stephanie Zammit's letter (The Sunday Times, December 28) about the lack of an animal ambulance service and I agree that there is a need for one.

Recently, I was driving near Aldo Moro main road in Marsa and saw a kitten running out onto the road and getting hit by a number of cars. It was certainly not a pretty sight.

Through the side mirrors, I could see it dragging itself towards the side of the road and onto the footpath. I drove all the way round the main road and came back to the scene of the incident where I found it lying on the footpath, unable to move. It must have been badly injured but luckily it had managed to get off the road; otherwise it would probably have been killed.

Like Ms Zammit's situation, since there is no official animal ambulance number available, I started calling a number of vets and emergency services in order to try and get help but nobody could do anything.

Eventually, one vet told me about an animal clinic in Paola, and so I found an empty cardboard box nearby, put the cat in it and drove to the clinic. The duty vet there examined the animal free of charge, told me that it did not suffer any broken bones and that it would be neutered.

I was also told that a person to adopt it had already been found.

I was very satisfied with the service offered at the clinic. However, not everyone stops to rescue injured dogs and cats and drives them to a veterinary clinic. Having an animal ambulance phone number to call is much easier. Animals which would otherwise be left to die in pain on the road could be put to sleep by a vet or even saved, depending on the extent of their injuries.

I also know the members of the St Francis Foundation in Vittoriosa, one of whom drove to Qormi to pick up the injured cat in Ms Zammit's case. These people have been doing this kind of work voluntarily for many years and deserve to be supported because they are providing a service to society.

As we know, keeping the environment free of stray animals minimises the spread of diseases and the number of accidents. Besides, one would expect more of a civilised EU member. For a country that relies primarily on tourism as its strongest industry, this issue does not give a good impression. And we also should not forget that these stray animals live a miserable life, exposed to the elements, eating scraps of food, facing diseases and cruelty by humans. I would like to show my appreciation to those involved in the current programme for removing strays from the streets.

Laws against animal cruelty should be enforced. It seems that the perpetrators of animal abuse are sometimes not caught and punished, as they deserve. We must keep in mind that people who abuse and torture animals are a potential threat to humans, too.

Furthermore, I think there needs to be a law that prohibits people from letting their pet dogs and cats out onto the streets to roam by themselves or to roam accompanied but without a leash.

Tackling the problem from the roots is the best solution to the problem. Besides having an animal ambulance service, public campaigns on neutering animals and teaching future generations to love and respect animals, could be the best thing we can do.