Dog lover Rennie Scicluna turned up at the Naxxar police station last week with six abandoned puppies in a box saying that keeping them himself would have meant breaking the law.
He found the canine orphans outside the derelict building in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq that he had transformed into a makeshift dog sanctuary about a year ago. A court order barred him from keeping strays there because the site did not have the necessary permits and was too close to people's homes. Thus, he could not take care of the puppies himself.
Mr Scicluna does not want to put down the 20 dogs he still has at the makeshift sanctuary and is incurring a daily fine of €4.65 for disobeying the court order.
"When I found the six puppies outside the Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq site, I refused to let them die. However, I can't keep them because that would be in contempt of court. I'm trying to reduce the number of dogs I have without having to put them down. "So I decided to take them to the Naxxar police station, which handling my court cases, to show them that people are still dumping dogs outside my door but I'm refusing them," Mr Scicluna said.
Accompanied by his helper, Maria Jenkins, he went to the police who told him to call the SPCA animal welfare centre. Mr Scicluna said he did not want to risk that the puppies were put down and did not want their death on his conscience.
Eventually, the police called the SPCA to pick up the six puppies. Two of them were adopted as Mr Scicluna and Ms Jenkins were waiting outside the police station.
One was taken by Gudja mayor Mario Calleja, who owns about 100 dogs, and another by a woman who passed by and named her new puppy Rennie.
Mr Scicluna's story goes back a few years. Unable to bear seeing sick or abandoned animals on the streets he began to pick them up, housing them at the former Palm Beach Restaurant, now an abandoned building.
Residents' grievances reached the authorities' ears and, in 2006, Mr Scicluna was evicted. With the help of a retired English lady, Joan Baker, and Noah's Ark, an animal welfare organisation in Mellieħa, some 40 dogs were re-homed.
Last year, unable to helplessly watch injured animals on the street, Mr Scicluna began to collect the strays again, taking them back to an old compound in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq to nurture them back to health.
The situation was back to square one. Residents started complaining again and Mr Scicluna was taken to court.
Last November, he was imprisoned for 26 days because he could not afford to pay fines amounting to €320. The public chipped in to pay the fine and spare him the jail term.
His pledge to the authorities is to be granted a piece of land where he can set up a sanctuary and care for the animals in need.
Anyone who wishes to adopt any of the puppies, or other dog orphans, can call the SPCA on 2123 4431.