Updated 4.45 p.m.

The Resources Ministry said this afternoon that the administration of the Animal Welfare Centre at Ta' Qali was entrusted to a private operator right from its opening, after a call for tenders.

The ministry was reacting to a press conference made by the PL spokesman on animal welfare, Gino Cauchi.

Mr Cauchi said the centre set up by the government at Ta' Qali had been assigned to a private vet and it was not meeting the people's expectations

Speaking at a press conference outside Centru San Frangisk, Mr Cauchi said it was not clear whether or not the centre had been assigned to the vet after a call for tenders.

What was certain, he said, was that pet owners and animal sanctuaries were disappointed that they were not getting what they had been promised.

Mr Cauchi said that the fees charged at the centre were far too steep, even in the case of strays brought in by sanctuaries and the Amimal Welfare Department, and many were preferring to go to private vet clinics.

The ministry said that Mr Cauchi was misinformed. It had been explained, even before the centre opened, and in reply to parliamentary questions since then, that the Centre's administration was offered after a call for tenders for which four bids were made and the most favourable was selected. The government said it charged rent and paid for the medicines used to treat strays taken to the centre by the Animal Welfare Department.

Prices were otherwise set by the operator, but treatment for strays taken by the department was free of charge. Animals taken to the centre by animal sanctuaries get a 20% discount. 

BLIND PEOPLE FINED

Mr Cauchi said the government needed to revise laws and regulations on access to bays and public gardens for people with their pets. This, he said, applied especially for the blind.

There had been cases, he said, were blind people were fined because they were in a public garden with their guide dogs.

EXOTIC ANIMALS

The Labour spokesman also called for a review of regulations on the importation of exotic animals and on private zoos. He said there appeared to be no real control on the importation of exotic animals, which have included tigers and crocodiles.

Both Mr Cauchi and, separately, the Animal Rights Coalition, also expressed concern that no permanent shelters have yet been built for karozzini horses.

Mr Cauchi asked what had become of the thousands of euros earmarked for this purpose and when the shelters would be built.

The coalition, in a statement said the basic facilities offered in EU countries as a respite to these working equines were lacking, despite Malta's hot weather.

"To date through all combined efforts, only a temporary shelter without water facilities and offering accommodation for ten horses has been provided as a form of goodwill (at Valletta Waterfront). No acceptable reason has been given by the authorities for the delay in providing the permanent horse shelters with necessities for the rest of the Karozzin horses," the coalition said.

"A public commitment by Minister Pullicino through all the media is being critically questioned as with no visible result so far, this situation seriously needs immediate attention and provision."

In its reply, the ministry said it is awaiting the adjudication of tenders and the Mepa permit to set up permanent shelters for horses in Valletta, Qawra, and St Julian's. The facilities will include cesspits, water points and bins.

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