Animal rights activist Alison Bezzina has been appointed Malta’s new Commissioner for animal welfare. 

Bezzina announced her new role herself in a blog post published on Friday, saying that after careful consideration she had decided to accept the offer and “give it my best shot”. 

She replaces retired magistrate Dennis Montebello, who had assumed the post two years ago, in October 2018. 

The commissioner for animal welfare is appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the agriculture minister. 

While the office has no powers of investigation and cannot report individual cases of suspected animal abuse, the commissioner can make recommendations on improving standards, review complaints about poorly-handled animal welfare issues and report on its findings in such cases.

Bezzina is a long-serving activist who has been at the forefront of promoting animal welfare issues in Malta. 

In her blog post announcing her new role, she said that the new role would be “very similar” to her work as an activist. 

“The main difference is in the method,” she said. 

Bezzina said she would be “pressing pause” on her blog while she served as commissioner, but reassured followers that “I will not be going away”. 

Fellow activist and TV personality Moira Delia was among the first to congratulate Bezzina on the new job.