Three brothers are expected to be charged with animal cruelty and negligence after the Animal Welfare Department yesterday raided their farm in Msida.

The department received calls that the brothers - aged 42, 44, and 52 - were keeping cats in cages and mistreating dogs. When the department inspectors and district police, accompanied by two vets, turned up early in the morning they discovered the place was a farm.

Godric Marston, who forms part of the rescue team, said they found a dead dog lying in the middle of the field and cows tied with a short chain to the wall with no access to water. Although the farm, located in Sqaq Santa Venera, is legal, the brothers are also expected to be charged with accepting pigs from another farm, something that is prohibited because authorities have to be informed of any transfer.

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