Updated 7.10pm with health ministry response

A health inspection has found "no evidence" that a Gozitan butcher turned sick cats and dogs into sausage meat and sold them on to unsuspecting customers. 

In a statement after the rumours about the butcher went viral, the health ministry said there were no cases of foodborne illness linked to the man.

The rumours spread like wildfire on Friday, causing panic and disgust in equal measure. They claimed that several people had fallen sick over the weekend after eating sausages from the butcher, with health inspectors allegedly later uncovering evidence of the misdeed during an inspection.

But police, health and government sources who spoke to Times of Malta said that although they heard the rumours in recent weeks, there is no evidence to indicate they are true.

In a statement late on Friday evening, the health ministry said officials within the Environmental Health Directorate had carried out inspections at the alleged butcher outlets but found they were not in operation.

A team made up of Police, the Veterinary Services Directorate and the Environmental Health Directorate then carried out an inspection on Friday afternoon at various sites in Gozo in relation to the alleged butcher.

"No evidence or equipment related to the production of Maltese type sausage was found," the ministry said. 

"No cases of foodborne illness were reported to the health authorities which were linked to the alleged butcher."

A police spokesperson told Times of Malta that they were first alerted to the rumours over a week ago but had not received any reports over the matter.

These are 'malicious falsehoods': family members

Times of Malta has chosen not to name the butcher in question at this stage.

But members of the butcher’s family who spoke to Times of Malta strongly denied the rumours, describing them as “malicious falsehoods”.

“This is absolutely untrue. All our family spent our lives around animals and loves animals, so we would never do anything like this,” they said.

They confirmed that the rumours have been circulating for several weeks, but say they have no idea how or why they started. What’s more, they say, the shop is no longer operational.

“The butcher shop has been shut for over a decade, so how could we have done the things they are talking about?”

Attempts to contact the butcher himself were unsuccessful, while calls to the butcher’s landline number indicate that the number no longer exists.