Editorial

From being an essentially rural island, Malta becomes, regrettably, more and more urbanised. This has greatly influenced not only the human inhabitants but also the wild and domesticated fauna that find themselves penned in by buildings, roads and walls.

One of most people's favourite domesticated animals, the horse, has long seen its existence abused and restricted, and if the new draft regulations drawn up by an Animal Welfare Council sub-committee, together with the Malta Transport Authority, are approved by the Ministry of the Environment, the restrictions will increase. Ironically, much of the thinking behind this draft is based on a desire to protect these animals' welfare.

One of the draft regulations would certainly make horses' lives much easier in the summer, for karozzini and other horse-drawn vehicles would no longer be allowed to travel our streets at all between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer months, hours of intense heat that make toiling horses suffer.

On the other hand, another draft regulation forbidding such carriages to use major arterial roads - including St Anne Street, Floriana, and Msida Creek - are aimed much less at the horses' welfare and much more at mitigating the anger of our motorists who rarely find the patience needed to drive slowly behind a horse-drawn vehicle even for a minute or two.

This latter draft regulation would certainly make things much more difficult for our cab drivers whose selling point so often is the scenic view for their customers as they drive along Pietà from Valletta to Sliema or vice-versa. It would be a shame if this were to drive many of our karozzini out of business, so perhaps here too there should be some time restriction, with horse-drawn vehicles being forbidden on these arteries until, say, 9 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Malta Tourism Authority should also be consulted on this matter. Surely Malta cannot afford to endanger a service that has long been characteristic of our island for the foreign visitor.

On the other hand, the MTA should undoubtedly support very strongly the draft regulations aimed at making stands for karozzini, each of which would need to be supplied with a water service. The draft regulation making drivers responsible for keeping carriage stands and roads free from excrement if applied would presumably produce the irate reaction from the cab drivers that a similar regulation produced not so long ago. This time, one trusts, our administrators would ignore the reaction and insist on strict compliance with the law.

With some modifications, these draft regulations should find official approval. If so, they should lead to more regulations regarding the treatment of other animals in this country. As in other countries, one finds two classes of people in Malta, those who love animals and those who treat them with contempt. Perhaps there should be greater education in animal welfare, particularly on television and in schools, both government and private. Those caught showing cruelty to animals ought to be given the full punishment contemplated by law.

Few, save horse-racing enthusiasts, would be saddened by the effect the draft regulations are likely to have of putting an end to horse-racing on public roads. This practice has long been a nuisance and can no longer be tolerated in a country where the automobile, for good and ill, has become so dominant. At the same time, it would be wise to provide our jockeys with one or two new areas where training would be permitted.