Seeing that, last year, after an inspection requested by the ministry responsible for animal welfare, it was decreed that animals could no longer be kept in the hold of the Virtu Ferries catamaran during the Pozzallo-Malta crossing in the summer months due to excessive heat, I wrote to the ministry to ask what measures had been taken in this regard.

The Animal Welfare Commissioner directed me to the director of vets who, I was told, had carried out the inspection last year. So I phoned the director who told me that the inspection was on the small catamaran, which is incomprehensible because no pet owner would dream of travelling with his/her animal on that catamaran if not forced to do so. Pet owners wanted an inspection on the Jean de la Valette catamaran.

After meeting the director, I therefore wrote back to the ministry saying that I was fed up of this game of passing the buck.

Let’s just hope, for everyone’s sake, that nothing happens to the beloved pets on board, even though, if anything untoward were to happen, I am sure the people above would immediately find some excuse, like that the owner had been negligent.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the Animal Welfare Commissioner has been very cooperative and I get the impression that the ministry is doing its best to solve the problem in spite of Virtu Ferries’ adamant refusal to find a solution.