Charges have been filed against Charles Polidano, known as Ċaqnu, over infringements at the Montekristo Animal Park a year after a request was made by the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat.

The police have confirmed the first hearing is scheduled for April 21 for the case to be heard before Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona. The police would not confirm what the charges were, saying they would be made public once the case was heard.

The information came in reply to questions by The Sunday Times of Malta asking whether police had taken any action against Mr Polidano following the request made last April by the veterinary services department, which falls under the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat led by Roderick Galdes.

The illegal zoo hosts nine reptiles, 165 mammals and over 1,000 birds, according to information tabled in Parliament.

They include two jaguars, three jungle cats, three lions, two pumas, two red foxes, three ringed lemurs, four tigers and eight flamingos.

The collection includes over 60 different species benefiting from international protection under Cites, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, according to Mepa.

The veterinary services department wrote to the Police Commissioner asking him to take legal action against the owner of Montekristo Estates which hosts the Animal Park. The department had already issued two warning letters to Mr Polidano dating back to 2012 that were ignored.

The breaches relate to the keeping of wild animals in an establishment that is not approved as a zoo and exhibiting them to the public. The letter also refers to the inadequate conditions in which they are being kept.

Since the letter was sent, Montekristo Estates added more exotic animals to the display for commercial purposes.

Last October, the unlicensed zoo was promoting weekly displays of new puma and tiger cubs while there was no sign of any attempt to stop this infringement by law enforcement authorities.

Although naming it an ‘animal park’ due to the lack of a licence for a zoo, Montekristo Estates promotes the venue on Facebook as a zoo. It has recently started posting a series of photos promoting ‘biodiversity’ within the Animal Park, listing a range of exotic animals, some of which are protected. Environmental NGOs have repeatedly condemned the authorities for ignoring planning infringements and animal welfare issues at Montekristo Estates.

Last August, NGOs Birdlife Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Gaia Foundation, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement, Moviment Graffiti, Nature Trust and the Ramblers’ Association said in a joint statement that it made no sense for the authorities to profess zero tolerance on illegalities and pass harsher laws for animal abuse when they then fail to take action.

Polidano Brothers responded to criticism that its exotic animals were being kept in poor conditions at the Montekristo Animal Park by blaming the authorities for delays in approving applications for permits to sanction infringements already committed.

The animal park is hosted on an illegally developed site subject to an enforcement notice issued by the planning authority in 2008.

Since then, Polidano Brothers have made several attempts to continue expanding Montekristo Estates, which Mepa defined as one of “Malta’s largest illegally developed sites”.

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