Who let the cats out?

Hotels in Malta may be willing to host inter­national cat shows at a cost, but close their bedroom doors to the feline guests that have travelled from overseas and need accommodation, a competition organiser has complained.

Accommodation in hotels abroad is taken for granted

Kevin Micallef, president of the Malta Feline Guardians Club, is one of many objectors who say pets are not welcome in many local venues, spreading the no-go area to hotels, with a focus on cats and their travel arrangements.

While these shows are staged in five-star hotels, any foreign furry participants and their owners have to sleep in a couple of one- and two-star properties that secretly allow them in.

“We cannot mention their names because they fear other guests would be annoyed if they knew animals were sleeping next door,” he said.

“We do not pay peanuts and a hall in a five-star hotel can cost about €1,000 per day, plus we normally attract about 1,000 visitors to a show, yet these events are often not accepted.”

The club has been organising some seven cat shows a year for the past seven. But often it does not even get to stage the event, with some hotels citing a no-pet policy even in their halls, Mr Micallef said, pointing out that 95 per cent of their websites specify that animals are not allowed.

Agreements have been dropped when hotels realise the show the club is organising is not related to fashion and that pets – not models – would be strutting their stuff on the runway.

At times, lawyers have been involved because hotels want to cancel. “In one case, we had left a deposit and they eventually accepted, but not without conditions such as keeping the cats in cages, which is not the idea,” Mr Micallef said.

“We have been turned down when money was not an issue, while some hotels have made us give up by pumping up the prices to ridiculous levels.”

Local shows attract around 50 participants and about six are aimed at foreign exhibitors. But Mr Micallef says numbers would grow if they did not have so many problems. Even local exhibitors often want to stay at hotels for weekend shows.

On the other hand, when Mr Micallef participates in cat shows abroad, he says the red carpet is rolled out and accommodation in hotels of any calibre is normal and taken for granted.

But the problem is getting there: a flight for a cat is double the cost for a human on some airlines, even though the animal would not even be allocated a seat and stays on its owner’s lap.

“I travel frequently to Italy and my flight costs about €85. But my cat’s costs €75 each way. It is ridiculous,” he said, pointing out that some airlines charged nothing and asked no questions.

“Despite animal awareness in the media, people still do not want pets near them,” Mr Micallef lamented. However, he draws a clear distinction between cats and dogs. “I am a cat lover – not a dog lover,” he specified. “And personally, I would not like it if I were in a hotel, knowing a dog was in the room next to mine, barking away.

“Neither would I like to have a dog sitting near me on a plane. So I put myself in others’ shoes. A dog lover could find cats annoying,” he admitted.

Making a case for cats, however, Mr Micallef said these expensive animals were like “soft toys”, kept very clean and washed three times a week.

Mr Micallef, who travels abroad with his cats six to 10 times a year, has two weights and two measures when it comes to animals (which do not exceed eight kilos) on planes.

He maintained a cat’s presence in a carrier bag would hardly be noticed because it would sleep through the flight, but dogs were a different story and he disagrees with having them on board.

Quarantine problems may be resolved but a vet must still check animals at the airport, whereas overseas they just need a pet passport.