Animal sanctuaries are threatening to boycott a new government scheme to pay people €150 to adopt a pet over concerns the financial incentive leaves adoption open to abuse.
Four licensed animal sanctuaries told Times of Malta they opposed the pet allowance, announced by Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Clint Camilleri earlier this week.
The MSPCA animal sanctuary, Noah’s Ark dog sanctuary, Gozo SPCA and the Association for Abandoned Animals all said they were against it.
Under the scheme a cat or dog must be adopted from a licensed sanctuary, meaning that without their support it could make it difficult for the government to go ahead with the payouts.
Chris Pace from the MSPCA animal sanctuary said the sanctuaries were discussing a boycott because the new scheme would involve a higher administrative workload and lead to abuses.
He said they were concerned that the scheme was open to abuse as there would be some people who see the financial benefit of adopting an animal in order to be handed a €150 cheque.
They were concerned they would have to double check the motives of new adopters in case they were only interested in the money and not the animal.
“This won’t improve the situation and it will make things worse. It will mean more work for us without increasing the benefit,” he said.
When asked about what the boycott would look like, Mr Pace explained that it could involve stopping potential adopters from applying for the government scheme.
The pet allowance was first proposed in the Labour Party’s 2017 general election manifesto.
This won’t improve the situation and will make things worse
It is limited to one pet per adult or two per household and would see a €150 payment six months after the adoption is completed.
Conditions include home inspections and banning those with a record of animal cruelty from adopting.
An allocation of €50,000 has been put aside for the scheme in the new government budget, but when divided by the allowance, it only worked out to around 333 adoptions next year, Mr Pace said.
“MSPCA alone expects to be rehoming 200 animals in 2020. We are only talking about MSPCA. It won’t cover it,” she said.
When asked when the government proposed the idea to the sanctuaries, Mr Pace explained that the director of the Animal Welfare Department, Noel Montebello, and its administrator Konrad Ellul, had met them in January this year.
The sanctuaries had explained that they were not in favour of the pet allowance adding that it would only lead to an abuse of the adoption system and would not be a wise use of money. The new owners would have to return the animals to the sanctuary if they were no longer able to care for them.
“This will mean an increased workload for us and signals there being more money spent on the after-effects rather than preventing animals being abandoned,” he added.
Fabio Ciappara, president of Noah’s Ark dog sanctuary in Mellieħa complained that the new scheme could harm their image. Sanctuaries, he explained, were best known for rescuing animals, but he feared they would now become known as a money-making opportunity for some.
The sanctuaries themselves would have to be more cautious about the motives of the people visiting them.
Activist Alison Bezzina said that although Parliamentary Secretary Camilleri had said that the Animal Welfare Department and the Veterinary Service would be jointly responsible for checking how the adopted pets were being kept, they were already understaffed and poorly funded.
Rosalind Agius, the Sanctuary Manager for the Association for Abandoned Animals, said that the money allocated for the scheme should instead be invested in a proper neutering campaign for dogs and cats or towards food vouchers or subsidised veterinary care.
Mark Thorogood, chief fundraiser for the Gozo SPCA, went further, explaining that instead of investing the money in the allowance, the money could be better spent on covering the costs of the animals and the upkeep of the sanctuaries. The sanctuaries also complained about not being given prior notice of the announcement of the scheme.
Chris Pace said that MSPCA had to contact the Animal Welfare Department to find out how and when the policy would be introduced.
Questions sent to Mr Camilleri’s office were not answered at the time of publication.