A report on animals kept in squalid conditions in a field on the outskirts of Luqa has prompted the Animal Welfare Department to launch an investigation, a government spokesman has confirmed.

The alarm bells were sounded by environmentalist Alan Deidun, who posted a series of photos shot last Sunday featuring mounds of dirt concealed behind a row of prickly pear and other cactus plants.

When contacted by this newspaper, Prof. Deidun said he was baffled at how such an unsightly view had never been flagged before, despite being visible from Triq il-Kunsill tal-Ewropa – an arterial road behind the Addolorata Cemetery.

“The site caught my eye, as it resembled a makeshift dump with all sorts of debris and other forms of waste and garbage bags scattered all over the place,” he said.

There is all sorts of debris and other forms of waste and garbage bags scattered all over the place

“Furthermore, I noticed a number of dogs, locked inside steel mesh cages, that started barking as soon as they felt my presence in the surroundings,” Prof. Deidun added.

Apart from the dogs, a number of chickens were also seen roaming around the filthy area, the environmentalist said.

Photos shot yesterday afternoon by this newspaper show the presence of a blue truck loaded with waste and a number of dogs roaming freely. However, it could not be established whether the material had been loaded from the site or if it had been brought over to be dumped there.

A spokesman for the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat told the Times of Malta that the case had been referred to the Animal Welfare Commissioner. He added that the Animal Welfare Department had already launched an investigation, but no details of the findings could be divulged at this stage.

According to the 2015 annual report, the Commissioner for Animal Welfare last year received 467 reports on animal cruelty.