Adequate structures for cab horses are being requested by a number of non-governmental organisations who joined forces to voice their concern.
The organisations said in a statement that this issue, which many animal rights organisations had been pushing forth for years, has not improved.
Cab horses still remained without adequate shelter and had to spend days in the scorching sun without any form of shade.
Welcoming the action the Animal Welfare Directorate was taking over the welfare of cab horses, the organisations felt that the latest decision, which called for the covering of cab horses with a protective cloth, was far from satisfactory and not ideal to ensure and safeguard the well-being and welfare of cab horses in the long term.
They said:
“Although the Animal Welfare Act puts the onus of the animal’s well-being on the owner such that cab owners may face a fine for not complying with such an obligation, public authorities can and must also play a very important role to protect and safeguard the rights and welfare of these animals.”
They insisted it was highly important that a permanent solution was implemented through the allocation of adequate shelters which had proper hygiene facilities including a clean water source.
It was also important that the structures that were set up were spacious enough to accommodate both the horses and the cab so as to avoid situations where the horses still ended up in the sun.
The organisations stated :
“It is truly shameful for Malta that whilst promoting cabs horses as a tourist attraction, it is at the same time also exhibiting the lack of animal rights and welfare that still exist in this island.
“As a result, we are kindly requesting that a concrete and permanent solution is found to address this issue of animal cruelty once and for all.
“We cannot understand why such a simple and straightforward decision is taking whole years to be adequately addressed and why year after year, the situation has still not improved.”
The organisations are Animal Rights Group, Moviment Graffitti, Island Sanctuary, Greenhouse, SOS Animals Malta, National Cat Society, International Animal Rescue, St Francis of Assisi Foundation, Street Cat Rescue, Stray Animal Support Group, Share Malta, Noah’s Arc, Abandoned Animals Association, Cetfree, Alternattiva Demokratika Zaghzagh, Nature Trust, Ananda Marga, Centru Tbexbix, SPCA-Gozo, SPCA-Malta.