World Animal Conscience

The Food and Veterinary Regulation Division has launched an inquiry into how and why a number of stray cats were shifted from San Anton Gardens to Wied Incita in Attard.

Chief veterinary officer Lino Vella said the inquiry, which is nearly concluded, was carried out as a result of a public outcry over the cats' removal from the gardens. "We want to account for every cat and be 100 per cent certain that we have traced every one before concluding our investigations," Dr Vella said. The hue and cry erupted some weeks ago when the Environmental Landscapes Consortium decided to transfer some of the cats from San Anton to Wied Incita because they were damaging plants. Consortium general manager Ronald Cuschieri said at the time that "all we did is reduce the cat colony at San Anton and gave the cats a good home on our land. We do not mind having cats in public gardens but we cannot let the cat population get out of hand." Dr Cuschieri had also called on the cat feeders and animal lovers to visit Wied Incita and see for themselves that the cats were being very well treated and fed every day by the employees. However, animal lovers and feeders were not placated and letters kept pouring in to The Times asking under whose authority the cats were removed. Dr Vella said this was one of the main reasons the matter was being investigated and he hoped to have clear conclusions in the coming days. In the meantime, the Animal Welfare Council has also voiced concern in relation to way that stray animals, especially colonies, were being handled by individuals or groups. In a statement issued yesterday, the council stressed that handling of stray/owned stray animals was to be carried out by trained people. "Any trapping, movement, and re-housing has to be carried out under the authorisation of the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division, to ensure that no cruelty results to the animals in question," it said.
The council also emphasised that 'owned' strays were the responsibility of the individuals feeding them and that these individuals must ensure the welfare of these animals and neuter them. A recent poll carried out on The Times website showed that 81.6 per cent of respondents favoured a policy on the relocation of stray cats, as opposed to 18.4 per cent against. A total of 771 votes were logged in the three days that the question 'Should there be a policy on the relocation of stray cats?' was posted on the website.

The Food and Veterinary Regulation Division has launched an inquiry into how and why a number of stray cats were shifted from San Anton Gardens to Wied Incita in Attard.

Dispelling the myth of disunity within animal protection groups

If a myth is repeated time after time, the chances are that it will be perceived as truth. One such myth is that of the disunity within animal protection groups. As is the case in any groups having progressive agendas, there will naturally be some differing opinions between the groups on such issues as targets, priorities and methods. This creates the need to have several groups rather than one single group, which act independently of each other but collaborate in issues where there is common agreement. The alternative to supporting variations of opinion would be their suppression, and ultimately a dictatorship. We see this in any social issue groups as well as in politics, and it is for this same reason that a single party parliament is undesirable, while on the other hand, consensus is often desirable and welcome. So what is the true picture of the local animal prot ection non-governmental organisation situation?The picture is not as bleak as some may believe, or may wish others to believe it to be. After much hard work by all individual animal protection societies in Malta, we have managed to form as little as two separate federations, a feat which no other country to my knowledge has managed to achieve. We have a local situation where a majority of animal protection organisations are represented in either the "Partnership for Active Animal Welfare Societies" (PAAWS) or the "Malta Animal Rights Coalition" (MARC). These two separate federations have their own individual statutes and meetings, but both have link persons who communicate regularly so as to work together on issues on which there is total agreement, and to share information. More than this, each of the two federations deals with any particular issue by democratic vote, but each member organisation has the option to opt out of any issue that it may no t agree on. Thus, while there is a single force by means of the collaboration of two separate federations (a case in point is the total unity in the case of the cats taken from San Anton Gardens), each federation, as well as each organisation within each federation, is allowed to maintain its individual independence, so long as the societies within the federations follow the written rules in the respective federation's constitution. Another benefit is that these federations are able to share knowledge, resources and expertise across the whole range of animal protection issues. For example, members of each federation are present on all the Animal Welfare Council's sub-committees, contributing expertise on topics ranging from stray animals, horses, exotic animals, pet shops, farm animals to marine mammals. The federations also regularly brief Maltese MEPs on animal protection issues at EU level so that they would be informed when new legislation is proposed.The enrolment of new members within each federation is decided by democratic vote from the existing members, and each society may freely choose to leave its present federation or join the other. Individual organisations are also free not to be represented in any federation if they choose so, but the advantages of being represented in a federation of like societies by far outweigh any disadvantages, thus resulting in a situation where practically all independent animal protection societies (exempting one or two who have chosen not to join any federation or else have not yet made that step) form part of one federation or the other. Animal protection groups have learned through experience that unity is strength. Many aspects of social and political life would benefit from the responsible attitudes of co-operation, dialogue and unity of purpose shown by Maltese animal protection groups.

A Zejtun man and his nephew were yesterday fined Lm500 each, had their shotguns confiscated and had their hunting licence suspended for five years after being found guilty of shooting at honey buzzards, which are a strictly protected species, from the middle of a main road.

Jesmar Abela, 22, of Ghaxaq and his uncle Salvu Abela, 41, of Zejtun, known as ta' Cancu, had been spotted by PC Albert Grech, on May 8, 2002, when there were plenty of honey buzzards flying about in search of a roosting place. PC Grech, a traffic policeman who was off-duty, had testified in court he was so disgusted with the attitude of some of the hunters he saw shooting from the middle of the road that day. So much so that he went up to them and informed them he would be reporting them even though he himself was a hunter. The Abelas were found guilty of hunting from a main road and trying to hunt protected species. Jesmar Abela was also convicted of hunting without a licence, reckless driving and relapsing. PC Grech had testified that he saw Jesmar Abela reversing at high speed for about 120 metres, doing a round about turn and stopping the flow of traffic before driving off again in the other direction. He had noticed Salvu, on the passenger seat, shooting through the van's open window. The van suddenly stopped and both men left the van and started shooting at honey buzzards from the middle of the road. Jesmar Abela also had his driving licence suspended for three months.
At yesterday's sitting other hunters were fined Lm500 and had their guns confiscated for shooting at honey buzzards while others were fined Lm200 after they were found guilty of shooting close to the airport. Police Inspector Alex Miruzzi prosecuted.

Mario Spagnol, 42, was jailed for six months, his brother David, 33, was fined Lm500 and their cousin Jason, 25, was jailed for three months. The three men, all of Marsascala, had been arraigned on January 22, 2002, and charged with killing swans at St Thomas Bay two days earlier. The hunters had been charged with 13 separate counts ranging from carrying loaded shotguns at St Thomas Bay, where hunting is prohibited, to conspiring to take away protected species. David and Jason Spagnol were charged with hunting from seacraft without a licence and Mario Spagnol was also charged with relapsing, having been found guilty of hunting in the close season on March 24, 1999. During a court sitting on March 30 this year the three men admitted to all charges brought against them and, consequently, Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona put off the case for judgement. The magistrate yesterday jailed Mario and Jason Spagnol for six months and three months respectively. He also ordered that an 18-month suspended jail term that had been handed down to Jason Spagnol be put into effect bringing his jail term to a total of 21 months. The magistrate ordered the confiscation of the shotguns belonging to Mario and Jason Spagnol, the confiscation of Mario Spagnol's speed boat and banned all three man from being granted a hunting licence for five years. Police Inspectors Alex Miruzzi and Morgan Azzopardi prosecuted.
Times of Malta

At least two short-toed eagles, a rare eagle which migrates in small numbers over Malta particularly in autumn, were shot on Thursday evening.

One was shot in the limits of Mtarfa and the other across the valley at Bingemma. Six eagles were seen flying over the Grand Harbour at about 10 a.m. and the birds were spotted in various localities later. In late afternoon they were seen in the area between Bidnija, Ta' Qali, Chadwick Lakes and Rabat and the birds were followed by a number of hunters driving jeeps and off-road pick-ups. Two of the birds settled on a rubble wall at about 5.30 p.m. and one of them was shot by a 26-year-old hunter from Mtarfa. The other was killed at Bingemma shortly after. Police officers from the administrative law enforcement unit were in the Rabat area in no time. The man was arrested and following searches in a number of nearby farms, the police found a freshly killed eagle wrapped up in a black garbage bag. The man is expected to be charged in court shortly. The police were also trying to find the second eagle and though they had clear indications about who had shot the second bird they were unable to find it on Thursday evening. More searches were carried out yesterday.

The short-toed eagle is a rare visitor but is recorded annually and, recently, flocks of up to 35 birds have been seen. It feeds on reptiles, mainly snakes, but it also takes lizards and occasionally "small" mammals as large as a rabbit. These eagles have a wingspan of nearly two metres and are known to live for about 17 years. The short-toed eagle has suffered a steep decline in numbers in Europe and is now rare and still decreasing in several countries due to changes in agriculture and land-use. It is estimated that there are under 5,000 breeding pairs left in Europe, with the largest populations being in France, Spain and Turkey. In Malta, the short-toed eagle is one of the few "strictly protected species". The maximum fine for shooting any of the 17 strictly protected species is Lm1,000. The shooting of the eagles is the last in a string of reports of shooting endangered and rare birds. Another short-toed eagle was reported shot from Bingemma last month. White storks, a flamingo, a spoonbill, an Eleonora's falcon, a pallid harrier, a lesser kestrel and an audouin gull are among the protected species that have been reported shot over the past few weeks.

The Animal Welfare Council, which is celebrating its first anniversary, is aiming to solve Malta's stray animal problem in the course of next year.

It intends to deal with a number of other issues, including horse-driven cabs, boarding establishments and pet shops over the next 12 months. In deciding how to control the island's stray animal population, the council is considering the introduction of dog licences and permanent identification, electronically or through tattoos. It has still to decide what system to adopt and would be drafting its policy on the issue over the next year, council chairman Lino Vella said. The stray animals problem was not as acute as it is overseas but still needed to be controlled, Dr Vella pointed out, highlighting the diverse opinions that animal welfare NGOs had on the matter. "If every animal could be identified we could have an effective stray animal control programme." Of course, the system would need to be funded and the council would be looking into that, Dr Vella said, stressing the importance of ensuring that the licences would not have negative repercussions in the form of dog owners getting rid of their pets rather than paying.

In the case of horse-driven cabs, the cab drivers were given guidelines to follow over the summer, Dr Vella said. These focused mainly on determining - through their breathing, for example - if the animals were under stress and taking the necessary action. Ideally, the horses would stop for a 20-minute break after every trip, he said. The council was awaiting feedback from the cab drivers to see which guidelines were applicable and would then be having discussions with their union to make any necessary amendments to the regulations before publishing them. Dr Vella said most of the horses were brought from Tunisia and had been bred in the desert. Thus, they were used to the heat. Going uphill was more of an issue, he said. He reported that the cab drivers were ready to cooperate. The horses were their livelihood and they would, therefore, not abuse them.

Dr Vella maintained that the problem of horse racing, particularly on public roads, and for which a draft legal notice has been established, was far more acute. The council felt the problem should be controlled and that any racing should be held on soft ground. Horses have been made to race three times in an hour and in peak sunshine on certain public holidays, Dr Vella said. The council's stand on the issue was that any races should be held in the best conditions, that the ground had to be fit for the horses and that both the animals and the public were protected.
A three-member jury would be responsible to ensure that there was no abuse, he said, adding that the Malta Racing Club agreed with the use of its track for the races.

With regard to boarding establishments, for which a draft legal notice has been finalised, these needed to be covered by regulations in view of the fact that some kennels were not up to standard, according to the council. Regulations would also be issued on animals in pet shops and markets after discussions with the interested parties - dialogue being imperative for the council.

The council, established under the Animal Welfare Act, has set up a number of sub-committees to deal with various animal welfare issues in accordance with the law. Last year, the council focused on the protection of farm animals to ensure that they were treated well, even on their way to the slaughterhouse. As many as 130,000 pigs, 6,000 cows and six million chickens are killed every year, Dr Vella said. "Animal welfare does not only concern cats, dogs and horses. There are more animals on farms than in homes," he explained.

Over the past year, the council approved a number of regulations, transposed by the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division from EU legislation. The legal notices approved and iplemented, in line also with the conventions of the Council of Europe, include, among others, regulations on calves, focusing on the abolition of cage systems; on pigs, to ensure that they are not kept in crowded situations and on what are known as "miniature" zoos. Other legal notices approved concern animal testing, which is not rampant in Malta, but for which fines could amount to Lm50,000, and transport regulations.

On the problem of dog fighting, Dr Vella said this had decreased but the problem was "(the culprits) had to be caught in the act". Following discussions with the Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry, in January, the council is calling for nominations for an Animal Welfare Award, the idea of which stemmed from an editorial in The Times. Nominees - individuals, or groups - must have contributed to the health and welfare of animals in a "special" way.

Two flamingos were shot at Ir-Ramla taz-Zejtun, in Marsascala in full view of swimmers at about 9 a.m. yesterday, police sources said.

The two immature birds settled in the shallow waters only to be gunned down within minutes and the hunter was seen diving in to retrieve them. The hunter was then noticed stashing the birds into his car and driving away. The police were called and shortly afterwards a 25-year-old man from Zejtun was arrested. Investigations by police officers from the administrative law enforcement unit led to the recovery of two dead flamingos from a freezer located in a house in Santa Lucia. In September last year, four flamingos were shot dead at Marsaxlokk, two of them in the presence of Malta Environment and Planning Authority inspectors who were unable to stop the hunters from killing the protected birds. A hunter was charged with shooting one of the flamingos and fined Lm100 and had his shotgun confiscated after he pleaded guilty to shooting a flamingo within the confines of a bird sanctuary at Marsaxlokk on September 5 last year. Officers from the administrative law enforcement unit apprehended a number of hunters over the past days - the shooting season is now open. A short-toed eagle was shot from Dwejra, limits of Mosta, on Monday after it settled in a tree. A number of hunters were found in possession of freshly killed honey buzzards at Buskett gardens, a bird sanctuary. Others were seen shooting at honey buzzards and bee-eaters, which are protected species. A number of hunters were also apprehended for hunting from seacraft. The season for shooting from seacraft is still closed.

The Times Of Malta

The lifeless body of a loggerhead turtle which must have trekked thousands of miles across the Mediterranean was found dumped in a vacant plot in Birkirkara yesterday, miles away from its marine habitat.

An endangered species, the loggerhead turtle was found with a noose of nylon rope held tightly round its neck and what looked like a bullet hole in its underside. The body was in an early state of decomposition. The carapace of the 60 cm-long creature had signs of scraping. The carcass was dumped in a vacant plot in Nazju Falzon Street at the back of the Madonna tal-Herba chapel, not far from the local council offices. Identified by Linnaeus in 1766 as Caretta caretta and known locally as fekruna komuni, the loggerhead is one of the two marine turtle species that reproduce in the Mediterranean. It is protected by law. The other species is the Green Turtle that nests in Turkey and Cyprus. Loggerhead females start coming ashore to nest by the end of May and finish nesting by the end of July. The tourist season coincides with the start of the hatching of the turtle eggs in August.

According to a website posted by C. Savona Ventura, the loggerhead is a highly adaptable animal much given to wandering and has a worldwide distribution. It is commonly recorded in the Mediterranean and is often found in Maltese waters, commonly in spring and from August to November. The species was in the past reported to breed on Maltese sandy beaches. The largest Mediterranean population of loggerhead turtles nests on the island of Zakynthos, which normally hosts between 800 and 1,100 nests in the national marine park. Ivan Portanier, a presenter and producer of radio and TV programmes on the fishing industry, said it was a pity that someone decided to cut short the life of such a graceful being. "It seems that whoever got hold of the turtle held it in captivity either to cook it or else to keep its carapace as a souvenir.
"Whoever it was might have tied a noose around its neck to restrain it but the turtle possibly suffocated when it tried to pull away at its tether. "Trying to separate the meat of the turtle from its shell is extremely laborious and its meat gives off a most unpleasant smell that pervades one's house or apartment. "Such creatures should be allowed to freely roam the seas," Mr Portanier added.

Sarah Muscat from the Marine Rescue Team of Nature Trust said it was extremely difficult to say how the turtle found its way to Birkirkara. "We find a lot of cooperation from the public and from fishermen who come across turtles in distress and who phone us up to collect them. "In collaboration with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the turtles are taken to San Lucjan fisheries centre where they are operated on if need be and kept until they recover. "Once they regain their health, they are released back into the sea. Once through the assistance of the public we located a turtle in a water reservoir in Dingli," Ms Muscat said. Before the loggerhead was declared to be a protected species about 10 years ago, turtles were sold openly at fish markets. A reader of The Times said he remembers his mother buying turtle meat to cook and recalls his grandmother saying she used to buy turtle eggs. It is said that the loggerheads used to nest at Ramla l-Hamra in Gozo before the invasion of tourists made the nesting ground unsafe. Loggerheads can grow up to a two-meters long carapace.

Although the hunting season for birds from land officially opens on September 1, hunters were present on the outskirts of Buskett last Sunday and one of them shot at an Eleonora's falcon, a very rare, protected bird of prey.

Birdwatchers who were in the area said five Eleonora's falcons were seen in the afternoon. Two of the birds were about to alight in the trees after they had been flying over the area when two shots rang out and one of the birds appeared to be hit and flew down towards the valley.
Eleonora's falcons are a peculiar species as their breeding season is much later than that of other birds and they usually have chicks at a time which coincides with the autumn migration, thus facilitating the chances of finding prey. The world population of Eleonora's falcon is about 3,500 pairs. Two phases of the bird exist, a light phase, which accounts for 75 per cent of the population, and a dark phase, with the birds being practically all black, accounting for 25 per cent of the population. Eleonora's falcons winter mainly in Madagascar, returning in April and May. They nest in islets all over the Mediterranean, with an isolated population in the Canaries.
The overwhelming majority of the population is concentrated in Greece, which is estimated to be the nesting area of 75 per cent of the world's population. The Greek population of Eleonora's falcon is under 3,000 pairs.

A pair may have bred in Xlendi, Gozo in the summer of 1997 - a downy, light phase, flightless young was caught by hand in late August of that year. After breeding, the birds, nesting as far to the west as the Canary Islands, move to the eastern Mediterranean and then south through Suez and the Red Sea, arriving in Madagascar in late November. This is a distance of over 10,000 kilometres for the Canary Islands population. James Jobling, in his Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, says the bird was named after the Sardinian heroine Giudicessa Eleonora d'Arborea, who fought for independence from Aragon in the late 14th century and enacted laws protecting nesting birds of prey. The Cypriots, however, claim the bird was named after Eleonora, wife of Peter 1, who reigned in Cyprus from 1359 to 1369.

According to EU regulations, the bird is listed in Appendix 1, meaning it should have maximum protection levels.

Two white storks were also seen at Buskett and various parts of Malta on Sunday. A black kite was also seen at Buskett on Sunday. A loophole that makes police work difficult is the fact that during the closed season for birds, one can hunt rabbits and can thus be out with a gun in the countryside. On Sunday afternoons though, hunting is illegal. Police officers from the administrative law enforcement unit, who at this time of the year are busy carrying out patrols to check contraventions at sea, on August 15 apprehended a hunter on a boat at il-Hofriet, limits of Delimara. The hunter threw his gun into the sea but this was later recovered by a diver and eventually consigned to the police. Following the incident, the police carried out a search at the man's house and from a deep freezer they confiscated 21 carcases of protected birds. These included skins of a steppe eagle and a white winged lark, probably imported from Egypt, two lesser kestrels, bee-eaters, Montagu's harrier and other birds of prey as well as a number of small birds, including a swallow.

The man is expected to be charged in court shortly. Another man from Marsascala is also expected to be arraigned after he was found in possession of several live waders in an aviary.

Former BirdLife Malta president Joe Sultana is shortly expected to be made chairman of the Ornis Committee after the previous chairman, Saviour Balzan, twice submitted his resignation over the past six months.

The committee, modelled on the European Commission's Ornis Committee, is there to ensure hunting and trapping are sustainable. It was set up following amendments to regulations on the protection of birds and wild rabbits, which came into effect last year.

The Ornis Committee, made up of a government-appointed chairman, the director of the Environment Protection Department of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, a technical expert and representatives of hunters and BirdLife Malta. The committee has not met over the past three months.

Sources said yesterday Mr Balzan's resignation had not been accepted and as the appointment was for a year, it was decided to make the replacement after the contractual date elapsed.
Mr Sultana was the government-appointed technical expert on the Ornis committee. Contacted yesterday Mr Balzan said he was not willing to comment at this stage. He added that as the commitments Malta made at the negotiation stage of the EU membership talks were unlikely to be reached, the concession given to Malta for shooting and trapping in spring may be lifted.
Deadlines about these issues had been agreed with the Commission. In July last year, when the committee was set up, Environment Minister George Pullicino had said one of the major tasks of the committee was to carry out a study on sustainable trapping. The committee also had to examine how the seven species of song bird allowed to be trapped could be bred in captivity in order to reduce their capture from the wild. Among the projects that are still pending, is the registration of trapping sites, the breeding of song birds and an enforcement strategy.

Hunters were represented by the Federation of Hunters' Association but as there are other hunting organisations, it is not known whether the federation will be appointed again. The federation and BirdLife were the only organisations on the committee because they were the only applicants which had met the established criteria: having more than 3,000 paid-up members, audited accounts and a committee elected at least once every two years.

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