Attard Local Council has told its executive secretary to withdraw a legal letter sent to a resident who was warned to remove stray cats which she cares for at Gnien L-Istazzjon.

The legal letter was revealed by The Times this morning, raising a storm of protest on timesofmalta.com.

But the council in a statement this afternoon said that its councillors never instructed the secretary to send the letter.

"Our secretary acted upon her own initiative because she had been receiving continuous reports/complaints from residents that the cats were damaging and dirtying private property.

"In this regards the Attard Local Council has instructed its secretary to retrieve the legal letter and the matter will now be on the next council meeting agenda for discussion.

"We shall discuss and find a just solution to the issue," the council said.

It apologised for any inconvenience this might have created to the resident, Wenza Micallef, and to all animal lovers.

Mrs Micallef told The Times that she has been looking after the 28-cat colony for about a decade.

"They are not mine but I love them as though they are... But I have nowhere to take them. I can't take them home and sanctuaries are full," she said.

"They are all neutered, so their generation should eventually die out. But the problem is people keep dumping unwanted cats and kittens here so, in reality, the numbers never drop," she explained.

Local council executive secretary Marica Mifsud said people kept dumping cats in the garden because they knew Ms Micallef would look after them.

The council was insisting the animals were removed because of the filth generated by their food and urine, she said.

This was a health hazard to children who played on the swings in the garden, she said, adding that the urine had led to the uprooting of two old trees and could "contaminate the water table".

Apart from that, Ms Mifsud added, the cats caused considerable damage to the garden furniture of a bungalow that neighboured the public garden.

Animal Welfare Department director Mario Spiteri said the cats had a right to remain there unless it was proven they were a public threat or if the health authorities declared them a hazard.

If that resulted, he said, then Ms Micallef would be held responsible since animal welfare laws stipulated that whoever looked after an animal automatically assumed responsibility.