Animal sanctuary Noah's Ark will be living up to its namesake biblical story by pitching in to save cats and dogs from the cruel streets through a new ambulance service launched yesterday.
The 24-hour service started operating at the beginning of the month following an agreement reached between Noah's Ark, which runs it, and the government that will be financing it.
Since then about 100 animal lovers have already phoned the police headquarters, on 2122 4001, to report an injured or abandoned stray animal.
Once the police are contacted, they direct the call to Noah's Ark who will go to the rescue in one of two ambulances, take the animal to a vet and then take it to the sanctuary from where it will be homed.
As part of the agreement, the government gave the NGO a stretch of land to enlarge its sanctuary and pens were set up to house the cats and dogs rescued by the ambulance, Noah's Ark founder Fabio Ciappara said.
While glad about this constructive cooperation with the government, he called for the introduction of animal micro chipping.
"The biggest problem we face is the lack of microchipping since it would allow us to know who the abandoned animal belonged to," Mr Ciappara said.
Tracing back the owner would also help instil responsibility in people and discourage them from abandoning their pets. This was highlighted in a recent tragic case of abandonment when a German Shepherd, who was found in a cave off Qala, was rescued by a family. However, the dog was in such a bad state it had to be put down.
Resources Minister George Pullicino said he hoped that within the next few years, the government would be able to make microchipping obligatory. However, he said, this would have to be done following consultation with all stakeholders including animal NGOs and pet owners.
On launching the new animal ambulance service, Mr Pullicino thanked all NGOs who dedicated their lives to protecting animals and called on the public not to abuse the service. The service was only free for strays, he stressed.
He added that he planned to increase the staff at the Animal Welfare Department, which fell within his ministry, to improve the system.
Department director Mario Spiteri demonstrated how his team, equipped with another two ambulances, made use of stun guns. These guns, he stressed, did not injure the animals but calmed them down and put them to sleep to ensure they could he handled and rescued.
There were times when his team was attacked by the public who thought they were going to shoot or kill the animals when they were actually rescuing them, he said.
Dr Spiteri added that, apart from the four ambulances in Malta, the Gozo SPCA had one.