Freddie Fenech, the founder of the Association for Abandoned Animals, used to keep a badly injured dog in his van for months to elicit sympathy and donations and would then make off with the cash, a court heard yesterday.
Volunteers who had worked closely with Mr Fenech, 72, spoke of his greed for money – he would pocket anything that came his way and let the dogs suffer. There were times when animals at his sanctuary were left so hungry, they would eat each other.
He would threaten volunteers if they asked questions and got angry if he was asked for receipts, they told the court.
Mr Fenech, of St Julian’s, has pleaded not guilty to misappropriating cash running into several thousand euro.
Romina Formosa, a volunteer at the sanctuary who managed the accounts, said the last straw for her was seeing a dog being kept in the van after it had been run over.
The poor animal’s bones were exposed. It was kept in a dirty, plastic basin and carted around to schools to be used by Mr Fenech to solicit donations, she said. She said despite the many donations coming in, he never deposited any money into the account and even made off with donated collars and large amounts of food.
Once, the Government decided to make a donation to all animal sanctuaries and the amount promised to the AAA was €10,500. Mr Fenech insisted that he be given the money in person. He told Ms Formosa he knew someone who could make false receipts and they could split the money between them, she said.
Ms Formosa said she refused but she also knew that he tried to pressure Mario Spiteri, at the time the head of the animal welfare department, to give him the money.
Whenever he picked up a dog he would ask for a substantial donation and then let the animal out not far from where he had collected it.
Some German benefactors, she said, once donated a substantial amount to have the roof of the sanctuary repaired. But the only thing Mr Fenech did was to get some corrugated iron and the rest of the money disappeared.
Sanctuary manager Rosalind Agius said “dogs would eat each other” they had so little food. Once they were “left for three days in summer with no water”.
She became suspicious when her perception of Mr Fenech as a cash-strapped animal devotee was contradicted by the sheer amount of money coming in.
Ms Agius had met Mr Fenech some six years earlier when he used to turn up at the door asking for money to help the dogs.
As animal lovers, her family would give him anything between €116 and €230 every three months and this went on for five years.
She recalled an incident that she said encapsulated his attitude. A meeting was held between all animal organisations and Government officials, who were asking how they could be of help.
The organisations told them they needed neutering vouchers but Mr Fenech started shouting that what they needed was cash.
Things had improved a lot since then and although there was still a long way to go, animal cruelty at the sanctuary had become a thing of the past, she said. The case continues.