A farmer who left his animals in a place described as a "concentration camp" was given a suspended jail term and fined €1,200.

The police raided Guido Vella's farm on July 16, 2007 and what they found horrified Noah's Ark founder Fabio Ciappara, who runs the animal welfare organisation.

The farmer, 61, became aggressive as the police, members of Noah's Ark and vet Duncan Chetcuti Ganado arrived at the farm in Mizieb, limits of Mellieha, to confiscate the animals.

They found malnourished, underweight horses and other creatures that had no shelter, were covered in ticks and were being given stagnant water to drink.

They removed four horses, a Dalmatian, a boxer, a fox terrier and four puppies.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said in his judgment that, when one saw horses with their ribs showing, one did not have to be a vet to realise that nutrition was inadequate.

The farm was not suited for animals. In fact, it looked more like a dump because of all the tyres and bottles lying around, he added.

Mr Vella was found guilty of animal cruelty, assaulting Mr Ciappara and Police Constable Silvio Bonnici, threatening Mr Ciappara and relapsing.

The court handed down a four-month jail term suspended for one year and a €1,200 fine.

Following the judgment, Mr Ciappara described the farm as a concentration camp and called for tougher sentences for animal cruelty.

The Gozo SPCA centre's manager, Betty Berry, speaking in a personal capacity, also disagreed with the suspended sentence: "In light of the current wave of animal cruelty cases, a custodial sentence would be the best deterrent," she argued.

However, Mario Spiteri, director of the Animal Welfare Department, shared Dr Chetcuti Ganado's view who said in his evidence that a distinction should be made between cruelty through negligence, as was this case, and absolute cruelty, as in dog fighting, for instance.