Open day at AAA's animal sanctuary

The Abandoned Animals Association will be holding an open day at its Luqa animal sanctuary which is in the final stages of a Lm7,000 refurbishment project.

The open day on February 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., will also be the last chance for the public to sign a petition calling upon the government to open an animal hospital. The AAA has collected over 30,000 signatures over the past months.

The funds for the sanctuary were raised mainly from an exhibition and sale of paintings last year.

The government has already expressed its consent for an animal hospital but it insists that animal welfare organisations should form a common front for the protection and care of animals.

And as the efforts continue to secure the opening of the animal hospital, Freddie Fenech, of the AAA, persists in his mission of homing animals brought to him. In fact he is now trying to find a home for four crossbred puppies found in a field in the limits of Luqa. Originally Mr Fenech called at The Times offices to make an appeal for the homing of five puppies. But a staff member "fell in love" with a cute puppy from among the litter and decided to adopt it there and then.

Two of the six puppies that were taken to an animal care centre in Gnadenhof, Austria by Heinz and Ruth Preiss last December have been homed.

Mr Fenech can be contacted on 9946 4888 or 7929 7930.