Animal groups lobby for care facility
Eleven voluntary organisations working with animals are backing the idea of immediately setting up a 24-hour animal care facility. The organisations - the Association for Abandoned Animals, the Animal Rights Coalition Group, the Island Sanctuary,...
Eleven voluntary organisations working with animals are backing the idea of immediately setting up a 24-hour animal care facility.
The organisations - the Association for Abandoned Animals, the Animal Rights Coalition Group, the Island Sanctuary, G.A.S.A., S.O.S. Animals, Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary, the Bugibba/Qawra Animal Feeders, the Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, the Animal Rights Group, the Stray Animals Support Groups and Happy Paws Charity Organisation - said the main responsibility for abandoned animals lay with the government.
They recommended the identification of pets by microchip and obliging pet shops and breeders to keep a register, which would be transferred to a common database.
The university, they said, should open a course on veterinary surgery and veterinary assistants since many potential students were discouraged by the expense of studying abroad. The organisations also said that quarantine facilities needed to be upgraded.
The associations said abandoning an animal was an offence according to the Animal Welfare Act.
All 11 organisations said they fully agreed that every rescued animal should be neutered before it was released or re-homed.
The Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment, particularly the Department of Veterinary Services, had the responsibility to assist in such a programme, they said.