Education from a young age is the best way to combat animal abuse - Emanuel Buhagiar

COMMISSIONER BUHAGIAR was appointed to the post in November 2014, following a five-year stint at the Animal Welfare Directorate as an inspector. Prior to that, Mr Buhagiar was employed as a police officer, having first-hand knowledge on how to conduct in

State-of-the-art re-homing sanctuary

“This new initiative has been made possible thanks to a foreign millionaire who loves animals. His team approached me, and I met with the man who told me that he is ready to contribute money. This fund will be led by me for a new re-homing sanctuary.

Money started coming in last week and all I will say is that it will be thousands per month. The account has already been opened with the Central Bank, and anybody can contribute money to it. [Account number listed below]

“Priorities for this fund are for us to create a new, state-ofthe-art re-homing sanctuary. I think that animals deserve it, we’ve got state-of-the art hospitals and many other facilities, so I think animals deserve such an initiative.

We have had approval by the Finance Ministry, as well as the Central Bank, for an account to be set up for this specific purpose. This initiative falls under my commission. In the future, when we have enough money we will ask the government to give us a patch of land, hopefully next to the Ta’ Qali hospital. Hopefully, with enough funds, we will be able to maintain upkeep without having to turn to the government for funding.

This initiative requires the collaboration with NGOs and the public. I wish for the sanctuary to be first class, with professionals who are trained for the needs of the animals. “He has not committed himself to donate money for a specific period of time, but has simply said that he will be donating money into the account each month. They will be deposited into the Central Bank account, and will be completely transparent.

This will be assured through annual financial reports, which I conduct. The 2017 report, which would be released in 2018, will outline all the financial transactions.

It would therefore make sense to have this sanctuary built next to the hospital in Ta’ Qali?

“That’s right. It would make a lot of sense in that way, transport costs would be reduced, and the area would be like a hub. There is the hospital, that first class recreation area, the dog parks and a lot more. It would make a great school-outing for children, where they could visit the sanctuary, the animal hospital and learn about animal welfare.

My dream for this re-homing centre is for everything to be done to serve the interests of the animals. I envisage that animals picked up by the Animal Welfare Directorate will be sent to the centre. I would like the sanctuary to be led not by one person, but by a board. Boards are employed in the interest of transparency.

When it comes to animal welfare, I feel that the issue is a hot potato, rightly so because there is never any good reason for an animal to be mistreated, and pets are ultimately part of the family.

The more promotion we manage to generate, through media, schools and overall education, the better. Today people consider the treatment of animals to be a very big issue. Education and promotion therefore go a long way in explaining to people the rights and obligations people have towards animals, as I have outlined in the children’s books this office has published.

Animal welfare progress

“As the Animal Welfare Commissioner I am empowered to create initiatives. I have already carried out many promotional and awareness campaigns, and teamed up with NGOs. A lot of progress has been made, laws have been made harsher, we now have four animal ambulances – including one in Gozo horses are now required to be sheltered under a tent and we now have a Director for Animal Welfare who is able to work exclusively to improve the situation.

Based on my experience, I believe that awareness has also increased. This can also be said considering the increase in people filing reports of alleged abuse. In my opinion, animal

abuse has decreased in Malta over the years, thanks to education and awareness. When awareness increases, reports increase. Not all reports are valid, but they are welcome nonetheless.

To what extent do you work with the Animal Welfare Directorate?

“I do not interfere with the Animal Welfare Directorate, but I am empowered to make recommendations based on reports of abuse. I even publish certain reports of abuse on my webpage, such as the case of that cat, Masha, who was killed after an accident took place in Valletta.

People were saying that it was the Animal Welfare Directorate that had killed her, but after investigating I discovered that this was not the case, at all. I found that Masha had been hit by a car, and a policewoman had reported the incident to the AWD so that an ambulance could come and treat the cat. She placed the cat in some cardboard boxes, on a blanket, until the ambulance arrived, and they found that the cat was too severely injured to be saved. Failing to put her down would ultimately have been inhumane.

One cannot allow animals to suffer unnecessarily, it is a very hard decision but it is humane when you are in a situation where treatment cannot save the animal.

How do you view the Animal Welfare Directorate in its current form?

“The Animal Welfare Directorate has made a lot of progress, and is much stronger than it used to be. They obviously wish to have more staff on hand, and have issued calls for animal welfare officers.

This would help with enforcement of laws. Without enforcement you cannot ensure that the rights of animals are being safeguarded. Enforcement also acts as a deterrent for people to think twice about abuse. We also have NGOs in Malta that have received funds from the government. In addition, we are working on getting more ambulances for animals, with the help of the Parliamentary Secretary.

Promotion

“As Commissioner, I embarked on the project of overseeing publications specifically for children. I have also visited a number of schools in order to relay our message. We made books for Year 5 - we give them a work book and we make it interesting for them by including colouring pages, crossword puzzles and other information presented in a way to engage them with the idea of having animal rights and the obligations people have when taking care of an animal.

The following year, we give them a more comprehensive book that covers everything: from the way animals should be treated, the five freedoms of animals, the animal welfare emergency number, education on how animals should be treated and information about farm animals, pets and more.

We believe that educating children is a great preventive way of ensuring future generations are aware of how animals should be treated. Children are constantly contacting me, e-mailing me, and reporting things to me as well as thanking me for the work being carried out.

Reports of abuse

By filing reports people have helped improve the lives of many animals. The case where all those birds died while being held in quarantine pending the outcome of a court case comes to mind. After that incident and a report being filed, we no longer use this practice.

Today, the birds are not held but are set free after all the facts are ascertained and photos are taken so that they can be exhibited in court. Birds that are injured are kept for treatment and then set free.

We must not be afraid to speak out when something is not right. We should praise what is right, but when there has been some wrongdoing we should come out and say it. It is important to be fair and forthright when investigating and concluding such reports. As Commissioner I must ensure that these reports are written in a completely just way.

Many people get frustrated with reports of abuse made where nothing seems to get done. The truth is that you need to give some people a chance to regulate their position. For example, if a dog is being left in a garden for many hours of the day, without any shelter from the sun, this is wrong. When reports like this come in you first have to identify the shortcoming with the owner and then give him a chance to correct the situation. If, after that, the abuse continues, it is the time to take action.

I have seen a lot of frustration when police complaints are filed regarding a dog being chained up with a short leash all the time. The problem is that, in court, you need to be able to prove this. Many-a-time, the owner will say that the dog is not in fact chained up all day, and it becomes a he said/she said situation.

Animal abuse has decreased in Malta over the years, thanks to education and awareness. When awareness increases, reports increase