A Chinese man has been arrested after cat carcasses were allegedly discovered in a white van parked outside a restaurant in Marsascala.
Police were tipped off about the presence of the van in Triq tal-Gardiel at 8.30pm on Friday.
They were following up reports received earlier in the day alleging the van’s driver was seen in Swieqi and Swatar collecting stray cats.
Witnesses told The Sunday Times the man was arrested at the restaurant where he worked part-time.
It is not believed that the restaurant has any connection with the case.
The man lives in Ħal Far with a community of 200 Chinese workers. The company that employs them rents out the barracks, situated next to the immigrant open centre.
Sources said the man was responsible for cooking at the barracks but a police search yesterday uncovered nothing suspicious.
Police and Animal Welfare officials searched the kitchen, living quarters and surrounding areas of the Ħal Far complex, including the skips.
A man who identified himself as the manager would not comment on the police investigation.
“We have nothing to do with this,” he insisted, declining to give his name.
Police said searches were also conducted elsewhere but would not confirm the discovery of the carcasses.
Sources said the man told police he bought them from someone else, believing they were rabbits.
The initial tip-off came from a pet shop owner after an appeal for information on a mysterious white van that was collecting stray cats was made by the Animal Welfare Department and animal lovers on Wednesday.
Sources said the Chinese man was regularly buying large quantities of cat food from a pet shop in the south of Malta and the van was regularly seen in the Marsascala area.
The pet shop owner took note of the number plate and reported it to the Animal Welfare Department.
Over the past two years, animal lovers have consistently reported that feline colonies around the island were dwindling, sometimes missing as many as 10 cats in one go.
There were unconfirmed reports of a couple driving a white van, trapping and taking cats away, the co-founder of Stray Animals Support Group SASG, Janine Vella, had said.
Animal lovers feared “hundreds” of cats may have been taken for their coats or even for meat.
One of the last reports before Friday’s developments was made by a concerned foreigner in Buġibba, who said cats in the street by the former Limelight Hotel and next to the Grapevine Pub had gone missing.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com