Following an incident last year aboard the only available ferry link between Malta and mainland Europe, in which a dog died in a hot car, admittedly due to the owner’s fault, a local news website reported that an inspection by the Veterinary Regulation Department found that animals should not be kept in the garage of the ferry between June 15 and September 15. It also reported that the department would ensure the new policy would come into force before the next summer.

Following a series of e-mails and a telephone call to this ferry operator over the past week, I was repeatedly referred to their conditions of carriage, which have basically remained unchanged from last year. The salient part is: “Pets must be kept inside the car or in a cage inside the garage of the vessel. Cages to be provided by pet owners.”

The point here is that, in spite of them having stated, in exchanged e-mails, that pets will be carried in an area that is “fully air-conditioned just like the salon area” and in spite of official reports indicating that the garage is not suitable for pet travel in summer, nothing has changed.

I am only asking for a small, air-conditioned, secluded area (to avoid problems with people who have animal phobias and/or allergies) where we can stay with our pets during the voyage or, at least, where our pets can stay in their cage without having to suffer the noise and heat that is present during the trip in the ferry garage.

Is this too much to ask?