Much has been written about Star – the dog whose only crimes were being 10 years old, and, apparently, shedding! If I may dare say so, the only “positive” thing that resulted from this shameful episode was an awareness of the suffering that some poor companion animals experience at the hands of those who think they own them – much as one would own a car, or a book, to be disposed of when no longer useful or needed.
The international attention Star got, the protest march, the commitment of the Animal Welfare Department, the way the court treated this as a crime, the readiness of Minister George Pullicino to consult with us about changes that can be made to the Animal Welfare Law... these were all encouraging signs for those of us who love animals, and the article Dog Owners Beware of Beach Patrol came as a shock to those of us who thought we were finally getting somewhere, especially the NGOs who are involved in animal welfare,
For the past 20 years The Island Sanctuary Association has been working to save as many dogs as we can and to educate the Maltese people – particularly children – to treat animals with respect. No easy task, because Malta is far from being a pet-friendly place. We are finding it next to impossible to find homes for our dogs here – our dogs tend to be adult dogs, and normally medium-sized or large. The average family here only wants a puppy – preferably one that will remain small. These further restrictions will make it even more difficult to give a dog a home. Few of us have the luxury of a garden – or even a yard! Most of us can only afford an apartment, or, at best, a flat. In other words, no room for dogs!
Most people rarely hear of deliberate cruelty to animals but it certainly happens anyway! Though certain people insist that the Maltese love animals, our experience shows that the vast majority of Maltese cannot be called dog lovers! A look at the negative comments which articles/comments such as this generate shows immediately just what we mean!
The average Maltese citizen is, at best, indifferent to dogs and cats (unless they intrude on his property!), many are intolerant and many more are downright hostile. It would be unreasonable to expect everyone to love animals as we love them – but are we asking too much when we expect that our rights as Maltese citizens to be safeguarded too? We are not talking about private land here but about “public places” that others may enjoy (and foul to their hearts’ content) but that are forbidden to all of us who have dogs. Incidentally, some dogs need to swim as therapy – do we have to invest in a swimming pool so they can benefit from this exercise? How about specifying a beach or two for the sole use of dog owners if most people are so paranoid?
We are taxpayers too and our money pays for the wardens who patrol these places: to maintain the gardens we are not allowed to use etc. Where else in the civilised world are dog owners barred from beaches, promenades and all public gardens, not to mention any green area which, once the local council has cleaned it up, automatically becomes out of bounds to dogs? Owners whose dogs foul the streets should clean up after them, and, failing that, be fined. Why impose a ban on all dog owners? One would think dogs are the only culprits! Dogs are not responsible for the empty fast food containers, bottles, cigarette packets, tissues, used syringes, soiled nappies, even the occasional condom... the list is never-ending, but nobody dreams of banning people from these places!
As a country, we need to learn to respect animals. They, too, were created by God and share the same world – in this case, this tiny overcrowded overbuilt island. Local councils should remember they are elected by people to serve the people. Those of us who share our home and life with dogs are people too – and it’s about time our rights were taken into account. After all, our dogs don’t vote, but we do!