20 NGOs call for wider action against animal cruelty
The Circus Animal Rights Coalition has welcomed a circular issued by the Director General, Directorate for Educational Services, instructing schools not to hold visits to the circus during school time.
"Activities involving the exploitation of animals cannot be educational but rather give a distorted image of the nature of these animals and man's relationship with them," the NGOs said.
It said it was calling on the DG to further strengthen the stand taken on animal cruelty by doing the same for the daily shows using animals at the local dolphinarium. "Using animals, captive bred or not, for entertainment and profit-making purposes goes against the notion of values being taught to children on a nationwide basis and conflicts clearly with all the animal awareness programmes which have been developed over the years by the education sectors and NGOs."
The coalition also asked the public to make an informed decision before visiting any activity involving animals and to think about all the difficulties these animals must face during transportation, training and the performances themselves.
The coalition is composed of: Moviment Graffitti, Animal Rights Group, Ananda Marga, Association for Abandoned Animals, Island Sanctuary, CETFREE, Greenhouse, Alternattiva Demokratika Żagħżagħ, SOS Animals, St. Francis D’Assisi Foundation, Nature Trust (Malta), SPCA (Malta), Ċentru Tbexbix, Stray Animal Support Group, Street Cat Rescue, Share Malta, Noah’s Arc, National Cat Society, International Animal Rescue and World Animal Conscience.
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Max Farrugia
Dec 3rd 2009, 21:45
@J.Farrugia. If J. Farrugia wants to know what is being done for the stray he must contact Happy Paws and they will give him the statistics of neutered cats. Large sums of money are spend to neuter the cats on the roads. They do a good job . You have to keep in mind that NGOs rely on the little money they get from members and some donations. Unfortunately the Maltese who are animal lovers still prefer to give money for other causes and not the animals. There are others people who pretend a lot from NGOs because some responsible persons in the area where they live decided to abandoned or dump the animals in the streets. I can assure that alot is being done at the moment than it used to be done 10 years ago. Please J. Farrugia do help groups like Happy Paws to solve this national problem. By just commenting negatively you will not solve problems. With regards the exotic animals groups forming part of the coalition were the first to air the issue re- the tiger. Now the government is going to change the law. Help us solve the problems instead of grumbling.
alfred zammit
Nov 11th 2009, 11:19
To start with I would like to assure you that I am an animal lover and would not tolerate anybody being cruel to animals.However,if I am not mistaken,the circus coming to Malta,has all the EU.Standards to protect and care for the animals.If the animals,mostly born and bred in the circus were to be let free in the wild,do you think that they will survive?Now that they are here and knowing that they are being treated well why not give our children the chance to see these magnificent animals alive from close by.This would be educational and beneficial to our children BUT THIS ONLY IF THE ANIMALS ARE BEING TREATED AS THEY SHOULD BE ACCORDING TO EU STRICT REGULATIONS.
M Williams
Nov 5th 2009, 22:27
Re previous post: The beginning of the last paragraph should have read "On a positive note......", typing error! My apologies!
M Williams
Nov 5th 2009, 18:57
@J Farrugia
I am sure that the NGOs making up the coalition are against ALL forms of animal cruelty, in fact many of them do work with strays and take in as many as they can within their limitations. One of the greatest problem is lack of human resources; maybe if you and others like you volunteered at an animal sanctuary for a few hours a week, you would realise what is involved. However, for some people it is easier to write negative comments in the papers rather than try to solve the problem. It is the thoughtless owners you should be blaming for dumping strays,and the persons who get an ego boost from importing alien species, and all those who exploit animals for so called entertainment and who are only interested in making money no matter the cost to the animals. http://www.circuses.com/
On a positive not well done Director General for this decision, and thank you to the coalition for trying to educate /inform about what is really involved in circuses. The information is readily available on the internet, we all have a duty to make informed decisions......unless we prefer to bury our heads in the sand, that is.
Sylvia Zammit
Nov 5th 2009, 17:50
J.Farrugia.
For your information this particular NGO that I am proud to be a part of - The Island Sanctuary Association - is working to give a good life to numerous dogs abandoned by morons who are too ignorant to treat a dog as a living creature, rather than a possession to be discarded when they have had enough of it..We are also working our asses off trying to educate morons like you to be responsible, or, at least, tolerant..
As for EU funds - we have only benefited once from such a grant.Would you grudge us that - you animal hating skinflint??? For your information, we are too busy doing the work of 20 people to have much time for checking for hidden zoos etc in Malta. What's more, our handful of helpers do it for free - just in case you imagined it was done for financial gain.J
J Farrugia
Nov 5th 2009, 13:52
doing valuable work? where? For all the strays I see in our roads, People complaining about wild dogs in their localities and no one doing anything? What are these NGOs doing? Protesting only about circuses? Why not protest about the tiger and the snakes and other dangerous animals being kept as pets in some hidden zoos all over malta. Yes I ask again: what are these mushrooming NGOs doing? What are these NGOs doing when people complain that their cats were torn in three by wild dogs roaming the locality? Or is it other people's fault that these dogs are not killed?
Annalise Falzon
Nov 5th 2009, 12:58
@ Mr Ray Buhagiar
I fully agree but please note the coalition consists of 20 NGOs - all of which doing valuable work in their own field. Some are dedicated wholly to strays in fact - but that doesn't exclude them from also talking about other cruelty issues. Join us on facebook to support our work and sign the petition if you agree: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/animalslavery/ . Thanks
Charles Micallef
Nov 5th 2009, 11:05
May God Bless their endevours to reduce animal abuse and long may they continue with this action!
Franco Farrugia
Nov 5th 2009, 11:02
@ Ray Buhagiar - Sometimes, we can never stop grumbling and praising worth things. You have a point, but this coalition so happens to have priorities which differ from yours.
Franco Farrugia
Nov 5th 2009, 09:04
Well done to these people who are carrying out this activity. We must leave no stone unturned to voice our preoccupation about this flagrant abuse of animals. Animals are not there for our beck and call. Animals are not there to satisfy our collective whims and fancies. Maybe some members of the population will think like that ... that animals have been created to please and satisfy mankind. The opposite is true, however ... that man has the moral responsibility to PROTECT AND DEFEND animals. When are we going to wake up as a nation and realise the potential of animals that are not in captivity? When are we going to realise how stupid and dumb we are in thinking and believiing that we can do anything we like with nature??
Lorraine Vella
Nov 5th 2009, 08:59
Well done! Finally something will be done in this regard. Let's hope many parents and adults will understand the meaning behind the cruel inflicted on these poor animals.
Ray Buhagiar
Nov 5th 2009, 08:54
Perhaps this coalition should start by protesting against those inividuals ho keep their pets (cats and dogs) on their roofs for whole days.
Charity begins at home