Over 55 small cages with stray cats picked up by the Animal Welfare Department are located at the Għammieri sanctuary in Marsa. Confined to such small cages, the cats are unable to move about and sit helplessly on their own litters.

But, come next Monday, they will be able to move freely upon being transferred to a 500-square-metre area located close by and which is being furnished to cater for the cats’ needs.

“We had reached a state of emergency,” Animal Council board member Joe Camenzuli told Times of Malta. “The cats were cooped up in dark, tiny cages that also contained their litter and food. They could not move at all. I cried when I saw them.

“As soon as (Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights) Roderick Galdes saw this, he gave the go-ahead for a temporary shelter. The ultimate plan, however, is to have a permanent shelter erected at Ta’ Qali, close to the San Franġisk Animal Welfare Centre.”

After a number of feasibility studies, a site at Għammieri was identified. The enclosed open space, which will be able to comfortably accommodate over 300 cats, is being furnished with covering for shade.

It will also contain two rooms and about 40 kennels.

“It’s heaven for them,” the self-confessed animal lover, who owns 70 cats and two dogs, said.

The dogs at the Animal Welfare Department also seem to suffer from the same problem of inadequate space and overcrowding. “Last year, a number of dogs were being put together in the same pens. They would get restless and injure themselves in dog fights. We’re working on increasing the number of pens.”

Mr Camenzuli added that the cats were in the process of being neutered as people were adopting the animals without them having been neutered or microchipped.

He said the Government was forging ahead with the Labour Party’s pre-election pledge of building an animal cemetery. “We’re conducting a number of feasibility studies and looking into related EU laws that need to be adhered to. But the animal cemetery is definitely on the cards.”