The Animal Welfare Department lacks both manpower and resources to enforce the new legislation regulating horse-drawn carriages karozzini, a source told Times of Malta. 

The new rules give the department the right to remove horses from the street if they are pulling carriages in breach of regulations, which bar horse-drawn carriages between 1pm and 4pm in July and August.

However, the source has expressed doubt over whether enforcement officers would be able to monitor the length of trips, which must not exceed 45 minutes. They are also expected to keep track of the horses to ensure they are not being made to work on consecutive days.  

Animal activists have also questioned whether seizing the animals will be effective, claiming that the department does not have adequate facilities to house such animals. Additionally, Malta’s only horse rescue NGO is facing imminent closure and has begun turning away horses.

A step in the right direction

Animal welfare blogger Alison Bezzina has called the new rules a “step in the right direction” but said they would be worth nothing without proper enforcement.

The regulations, recently announced by the Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights, Clint Camilleri, state that an animal welfare officer “shall have the power to remove any animal and karozzin being used in contravention of the sub-regulation”. 

The Environment Ministry was asked whether it anticipated any challenges in enforcing the regulations, where seized horses would be kept and for how long.

A spokesman replied that the Animal Welfare Act already stipulated that officers authorised by the director for Veterinary Services or the director for Animal Welfare had the right to use all enforcement powers as stipulated by law. 

The title of animal welfare officer applies to any “official appointed under article 44 and also includes every member of the police or a community officer”.