Victoria Council denies SPCA Gozo claims

Victoria Local Council this morning referred to works taking place in the Victoria playing field next to the Bus Terminus and denied accusations made against it by SPCA Gozo on the removal of cat shelters.

It insisted that it had not destroyed or removed any cat shelters and said it found SPCA Gozo's attitude "absurd".

It said the facts were the following:

• "The Victoria Playing Field has for years been left in complete neglect and gross vandalism has taken place over the years.

• "Due to this state of neglect it has grown into a place known for drug abuse and promiscuous activities. Council personnel have routinely collected syringes, sanitary towels and all kinds of imaginable rubbish found under overgrown trees.

• "This present council is committed to change the situation and give life to one of the last open green spaces in the City, thus preserving the ecology and bettering the environment.

• "The Council underlines that it is not against animals, cat or other animal shelters.

• "It is completely untrue to say that a cat shelter was destroyed. For all intents and purposes this cat shelter was unknown to the Victoria Local Council and hence finds it hard to believe that it has been existent for twenty odd years.

• "The Council's intervention was only to clear rubbish, eliminate invasive weeds and to spruce overgrown trees."