Some 50 animal lovers gathered in Valletta this evening to mourn the death of a beloved local cat, described as “part of the community”, which was put down by the Animal Welfare department last week.

Those gathered said they were also protesting against the ease with which Animal Welfare put down animals it had rescued.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Karmen Coleiro from the NGO Animal Guardians told the Times of Malta. “Rescued animals who are sick, injured or paralysed are given no chance to live.

“We are calling for a total revision of the criteria under which Animal Welfare opts for euthanasia, which should only be considered if the animal is in tremendous pain and cannot be saved.”

Masha, a cat who for nearly 18 years had been fed and photographed by passers-by as she sat atop a utilities box in Melita Street, was put to sleep by the Animal Welfare department last week.

A spokesman for the department told this newspaper the cat had been found by a policeman “partly-paralysed on a doorstep and in critical condition” after being hit by a car.

The report of the vet who recommended euthanasia on welfare grounds described her health as “very weak, emaciated and dehydrated”, according to the spokesman, apart from paralysis and evidence of severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea.

Several people at the protest this evening said they did not believe the official version given by Animal Welfare although they had no evidence to suggest otherwise.

Romwald Casha, the 71-year old owner of a nearby pet shop where Masha would spend evenings and weekends, meowing out of a balcony at passers-by, expressed anger that he had not, at the least, been kept informed of what was happening before Masha was put down.

The cat was microchipped and Mr Casha was registered as her owner, but he said Animal Welfare had informed him only that microchips were not checked in cases such as Masha’s.