A total of 250 cats and dogs have been adopted since the beginning of the year after these were saved by the Animal Welfare Department, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said.

Mr Pullicino was speaking during a meeting with the families who adopted the animals in the past months on the occasion of the World Day for Abandoned Animals.

He said that the department received around 200 telephone calls a month, an average of seven a day.

Mr Pullicino said that since the animal ambulance was launched, more than 800 cats and dogs were saved.

The main reasons animals were collected by the department was that they would be either injured or on the streets in danger of being hit by cars.

Once saved, they would be taken to a vet where they would be given the required care. They would then recover at Ghammieri until they are adopted.

The minister thanked department employees and volunteers and appealed for more families to adopt a pet.