Appointed Malta’s first Animal Welfare Commissioner in November, Emanuel Buhagiar believes that public awareness is growing . He speaks to Sarah Carabott about his love of animals and the much-needed regulation of dangerous species.

In 2009 a Bengal tiger arrived in Mosta, exposing the lack of rules on the importation of exotic animals. Photo: Chris Sant FournierIn 2009 a Bengal tiger arrived in Mosta, exposing the lack of rules on the importation of exotic animals. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

There is no register of the kinds of animals present in Malta. The only control in place is that animals imported from abroad need to have a passport showing they came through Customs and border inspection, and were checked by a vet.

“But there are others who come in illegally while there might also be animals bred here,” Emanuel Buhagiar says from his new office at Casa Leone in Santa Venera.

Questions about exotic animal regulation were brought up in 2009 when a Bengal tiger arrived in Mosta, exposing the lack of rules for importing exotic animals. Five years on, nothing can stop anybody from importing any animal that is not endangered, and there is still no definition of dangerous animals.

Regularising dangerous and exotic animals will be one of Mr Buhagiar’s priorities as a commissioner. Once the Animal Welfare Council is appointed in the coming weeks, it can start discussing registration of dangerous animals and eventually draft a Bill that would be passed on to the Parliamentary Secretariat for Animal Rights, he explains.

His contribution as animal welfare officer was also crucial in the investigation of crucified animals in Mosta

Mr Buhagiar joined the Animal Welfare Directorate in 2009 as an animal welfare officer after serving as a police officer in the forensic laboratory for 26 years. In 2013, he was appointed secretary of the Animal Rights Council and he was then appointed Animal Welfare Commissioner in November.

As commissioner, he will be supervising the council and the directorates for animal welfare and veterinary services. He will not be carrying out inspections but says he will make sure the law is being enforced once he gets to know of reports that are not being followed up.

Mr Buhagiar also needs to draw up reports and his first one as a commissioner will deal with the shortcomings in the case of some 500 protected wild finches smuggled into the country that died while being held as court evidence in November.

“The place they were quarantined in is not meant for smuggled birds caught by the police, but for animals brought from abroad that aren’t vaccinated or have some other irregularities... The courts should have a place within the right environment to keep animals as evidence,” Mr Buhagiar notes.

He believes the birds should not have even been kept in the cages, but let free, since they were wild. Most of them died from negligence as they were kept in a restricted space for a long time.

An avid animal lover, Mr Buhagiar owns birds of his own, apart from a dog, two cats and some fish. Growing up, he was always surrounded with animals and at one point his mother had 18 felines. Now, at his office in Santa Venera, he is still surrounded by some 30 cats that live in the secretariat’s gardens.

Hanging on the wall behind his new desk is a framed photo of Mr Buhagiar leaning down towards a Shetland pony behind a fence. It is a reminder of one of his first cases as an animal welfare officer. That pony would greet him whenever he went on site.

“The pony’s owner kept horses in a field without shelter and water during the day… We warned him more than once and then had to take him to court.

“I remember nearly all the cases of abuse that we investigated, but I will especially never forget the cases of the dogs Gaia and Star,” he says.

Gaia was found suffocating in a skip while Star was shot and buried alive in 2011. Both dogs eventually died and a man was fined €20,000 and jailed for a year over Gaia’s death.

Mr Buhagiar’s contribution as animal welfare officer was also crucial in the investigation of crucified animals in Mosta after he received a tip-off from a person who spoke to him confidentially.

The information, he says, was crucial. Although he was not given the suspect’s name, it would have been difficult to track him down if not for the description of what he looked like and how he travelled.

Mr Buhagiar believes education is the solution to the problem of animal abuse and raising awareness is his other priority as a commissioner. He is working on a book for 10-year-olds, which includes basic information such as what to do when dogs go missing.

“Not many know that a report has to be filed with the police and that apart from a microchip, a dog needs to have a tag with the owner’s details around its neck, for example,” he says.

Mr Buhagiar believes that awareness increased in the past six years. Up to 3,000 reports are filed yearly, mostly about the conditions animals are kept in.

Meanwhile, cases of cruelty decreased. In the last five years the department was responsible for prosecuting more than 70 cases of animal cruelty. Around 50 of these were in the first four years.

Since November, Malta has upped its penalties for those caught mistreating animals. On first conviction, the accused is liable to a fine of up to €55,000, imprisonment for not more than three years or both. If they are caught again, the penalty goes up to a maximum of €80,000.

The department takes animal abuse very seriously, Mr Buhagiar says, noting that in one case starting more than four years ago, it appealed the sentence of a man who had been caught with caged birds and rabbits, in unhygienic conditions and without water, until he was fined €300 last year.

Recalling cases of abuse, Mr Buhagiar insists that animals cannot defend themselves, and it is up to us to make sure they are not abused.

Asked about animals in zoo establishments sprouting up across the island, Mr Buhagiar said zoo regulations had been drawn according to international requirements. Although he does not believe a tiger should be kept in a small enclosure, owners cannot be prohibited from keeping the animal if they follow the minimum caging standards.

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