A man who admitted to slaughtering animals in an illegal abattoir and selling the meat was given a six-month jail term suspended for two years.
Anthony Sciberras, the owner of an abandoned farm in the Swieqi valley, was also fined €500 after he pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and breaching health regulations by selling meat that was not slaughtered in monitored sanitary conditions.
Despite complaints that the punishment was too lenient, Animal Welfare Department director Mario Spiteri believed it was "appropriate", given that Mr Sciberras had a clean criminal record and admitted to the charges.
What people did not realise, he said, was that when it came to animal cruelty this was "the harshest punishment ever handed down" in such circumstances.
Animal welfare officers, police and health inspectors raided Mr Sciberras's farm in December and found lots of blood on the ground of a tiled room where a sheep had just been slaughtered.
They also found tools used to kill animals and noticed the testicles of a horse on the ground. In a field neighbouring the room was a mound of butchered animal heads and limbs that were covered in manure, an animal welfare officer had noted at the time.
Investigations led the police to proceed against Mr Sciberras, 67, of San Ġwann who yesterday admitted to all 17 charges brought against him before Magistrate Doreen Clarke. He faced a maximum two-year jail term and was given a six-month jail term suspended for two years.
The charges included running the illegal abattoir, causing animals to suffer, keeping them in inadequate conditions and slaughtering them in an unauthorised way by slitting their throats. Animals can only be slaughtered in the state abattoir where they are first stunned before they are killed.
Mr Sciberras also admitted to not storing the meat in an appropriate temperature, breaching other food safety regulations, selling the meat without a registered traceability stamp and transporting the animals without permission.
The judgment spurred criticism from readers of timesofmalta.com many of whom felt it was not harsh enough.
"What a joke," one person commented while another blogger said: "Pathetic. This will only encourage those who are cruel to animals to continue enjoying themselves."
However, Dr Spiteri pointed out that he felt the punishment was "appropriate".
"Let's not forget if this man breaks the law again he will be jailed for six months," Dr Spiteri said.
He added that, before the setting up of animal welfare laws, the man would have merely been slapped with a small fine. Under the Code of Police Laws, he explained, the maximum fine was €50 while the Veterinary Services Act puts the maximum at €155 in such a case.
Animal welfare inspector Emmanuel Buhagiar, who handled the case, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the case but disappointed Mr Scibberas had not been suspended from having his animals slaughtered at the state abattoir.
When contacted, Environmental Health Department director John Attard Kingswell said: "The charges were brought against the accused by the police and this department's official role was only to give evidence as necessary.
"As such we do not think it would be ethical to comment on this specific case particularly since the accused was also charged with contraventions pertaining to other competent authorities. Needless to say we cannot but consider an imminent risk to public health as a serious offence," he said.
Police Inspector Nikolai Sant prosecuted while lawyer Ian Farrugia represented Mr Sciberras.