A wide-ranging interview with the Commissioner for Animal Welfare, retired magistrate Denis Montebello, in The Sunday Times of Malta, has exposed a sorry account of woefully inadequate resources undermining the cause of animal welfare in this country.
When Dr Montebello took on the role of Animal Welfare Commissioner seven months ago, he immediately instituted an examination into whether the two directorates responsible for day-to-day animal welfare – the animal welfare and veterinary regulation directorates– were sufficiently well equipped to undertake the work expected of them by law.
Although there was goodwill a-plenty in both directorates, the resources available to them were totally inadequate. In Dr Montebello’s view, there are serious shortcomings that need to be tackled if the directorates are to function properly. “There cannot be surveillance without enough human resources and there cannot be proper enforcement without well-equipped animal ambulances that ensure animals don’t suffer more when they are taken away from their owners,” he said.
These issues are fundamental to success in the animal welfare field. When an animal is rescued it has to be taken to a place where it can be properly cared for. But no adequate rehoming centre exists in Malta. Seized animals are usually kept at the government farm at Għammieri and their owners are charged with animal cruelty. But lack of space at Għammieri often means the directorates cannot seize suffering animals because no safe place exists where to keep them pending the settlement of the offence.
The state of the “pre-World War II goat-pens acting as dog kennels” at Għammieri is shocking. The ‘kennels’ have no source of heating and water seeps through the galvanised roofs when it rains. Worse, about 100 dogs are being kept in a space that should host only 40.
When Dr Montebello flagged the issue with the Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights, work was set in train to construct new kennels. These will ultimately host about 50 dogs in adequate conditions. But it will still not be enough to cater for all the rescued animals.
The lack of resources devoted to the physical conditions in which rescued animals have been – and are still being – housed is not only detrimental to the morale and efficiency of the animal welfare and veterinary regulations directorates but also affects directly the commissioner’s officers who are responsible for promoting animal welfare in schools.
The promotion work carried out in schools is a vital element in trying to educate future generations of Maltese citizens to adopt a different attitude towards animals, one which is humane, civilised and recognises their right to be protected from cruel practices. But this initiative is undermined when children on school trips are then exposed to conditions at Għammieri.
Asked about the spate of recently reported cases of dog-baiting and other animal cruelty, Dr Montebello complained that the lack of up-to-date, readily available records was undermining efforts at enforcement and subsequent prosecutions, “without which the whole structure for ultimate protection of animal rights is doomed to collapse”.
It is shamefully clear that the cause of animal rights in Malta still has a long way to go before we can be confident that long-standing primitive attitudes of unconcern about the welfare of animals have been overcome. The misnamed Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights must fight harder for greater human and financial resources.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial