As if we needed telling

There are some things about Gozo that shouldn't be preserved

This is from a report in The Sunday Times last Sunday, about the work of the government’s Animal Welfare Department. It quotes Department Director Mario Spiteri. The piece is illustrated with a photograph of a hideously damaged pug puppy found dumped in Sannat, which died shortly afterwards.

The worst cases of animal cruelty discovered so far have been in Gozo.

The department receives several reports from the Gozo SPCA as well as conducting its own inspections.

“Unlike Malta, where people willingly expose cases of cruelty and a few are even self-appointed watchmen, in Gozo secrecy stills shrouds everything, making matters worse,” he said.

One such incident discovered by the SPCA Gozo was a hunting dog tied without access to water or food, and left swamped in mud.

SPCA Gozo representative Betty Berry said: “The cruelty by neglect that we are witnessing is dreadful and mind-blowing.

Regretfully, some of the animals we rescue are past saving. We find them literally on their last legs.”