Karozzini owners must build own shelters - Transport Malta

Owners of horse-drawn cabs should build and maintain shelters for the animals to protect them from the heat without expecting the government to do so, Transport Malta said.

The regulator said it was not insensitive to the conditions of the horses but pointed out that it was not the competent authority to protect animal rights.

Transport Malta and Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt came under harsh criticism on Wednesday by an animal welfare group for failing to keep a promise made last year to build shelters for horses.

The horses are left for hours in the intense heat while their owners wait in line for business.

At present, licences issued to karozzini owners were not linked to the treatment of the horses but Transport Malta was insisting that it should become a condition.

"In the ongoing negotiations, Transport Malta is also insisting that owners are obliged to build and maintain horse shelters to ease hardship to the animals," it said.

It was also calling for the introduction of heavy fines and the operator's licence suspension if the horses were found to be abused or not cared for properly.

Also, the operators had to understand that horse shelters could not be built at every waiting point.

While Transport Malta was willing to "facilitate the funding", the cabbies should not expect public funds to be used to compensate for their legal obligations to make sure the animals did not suffer unnecessarily, it said.

Myriam Kirmond, chairman of the Animal Rights Group, said the cab owners and animal welfare groups did not expect anything from the government except for Dr Gatt to keep his promise. "He promised us last year that the (then) Malta Transport Authority was ready to pay for them but nothing was done," she said.

The government could not expect the cab owners to pay for the construction of the shelters. "How can all these men spend all that money," she asked.