Respite for 'death row' dogs

The 13 dogs on 'death row' have been spared after the Island Sanctuary temporarily housed eight, homed one and allowed their 78-year-old carer, Joseph Salerno, to keep four.

According to the sanctuary the court had issued an order two weeks ago to have the dogs collected by the SPCA tomorrow and then put down, after a stray in the locality attacked a woman.

The story of these dogs has touched the hearts of many and The Times was inundated with calls and letters from concerned readers who insisted that these defenceless animals should be spared.

Mr Salerno has been caring for the 13 dogs, which have become his only friends, for the past eight years after some "irresponsible citizens" started abandoning dogs on his doorstep.

The sanctuary has for the past week been working round the clock to try and home the dogs before tomorrow's deadline.

"We only managed to home two dogs. However, the one which had been moved to Zebbug has managed to find its way back home to Mr Salerno in Fgura," sanctuary vice-chairman Sandy Bray said.

In the meantime, the sanctuary has taken away eight dogs and has allowed Mr Salerno to keep four. Ms Bray said the sanctuary had warned him to ensure the dogs were under constant supervision and locked inside at night.

However, the sanctuary cannot keep the eight dogs permanently and Ms Bray was appealing for anyone who could come forward and home the dogs.

"We can vouch for these dogs. They are anything but vicious. When we took them to the sanctuary they were whining in fear, but they never once turned on our volunteers," she said.

Mr Salerno yesterday also went to register his four dogs with the police to ensure everything was in order and according to the law.

"I do not wish to bother my neighbours or cause any trouble. I am happy keeping just four dogs, because the others were never mine and had been dumped outside my house," he said.

In an attempt to improve the situation, Mr Salerno is also in talks with the owner of a field, adjacent to his home, to fence it off and prevent the four dogs from roaming the streets.

Mr Salerno has the backing of the majority of Fgura residents and one of his neighbours has already collected nearly 300 signatures for a petition to save the dogs from being collected by the SPCA and put down.

When contacted, SPCA manager Christel Selis insisted that the court had only ordered the association to collect the dogs, it never mentioned anything about killing them.

"We already had a kennel ready for them and were going to try and find them a home. The SPCA does sometimes put down dogs out of mercy, but this is not always the case," Ms Selis said.

"The SPCA believes every dog deserves a second chance. What we do not want to see is dogs running on the streets unattended," she said.

Ms Selis said that once the sanctuary had taken in most of the dogs the problem was no longer in the hands of the SPCA and the matter was now between Mr Salerno and the court.

Mr Salerno has another court sitting on the matter tomorrow.

The sanctuary can be contacted on 2165 9895.