When the state depends on charity
However well looked after, this is no life for a dog
When the state depends wholeheartedly on charity to lift the entire weight of something that is essentially the state’s duty, the inevitable result is abuse. When it comes to the care of abandoned children and animals, which is left completely up to charitable organisations and volunteers, the state has abdicated its responsibilities.
So dependent is the state on the goodwill of nuns and priests in looking after all of Malta’s abandoned children that its agents believe they cannot afford to exercise pressure by putting strict controls in place. The nuns and priests might revolt, as they are within their rights to do having been dumped on for centuries in this respect, and then the state would have to organise its own facilities and systems for homeless children.
I have written about this subject often. I wonder for how much longer the situation can go on. I think it is unfeasible that, in the 21st century, our idea of a welfare state where homeless children are concerned is religious charity and volunteer efforts, precisely what it is in the third world.
The people in the religious organisations which do this work have a terrible burden – emotional, psychological, physical and financial. They feel in duty bound to carry that burden, because otherwise the children would suffer. But as long as they carry it, the state will do nothing, and continue to rely on charity, as though in a modern welfare state the upkeep of homeless children should be run on exactly the same pattern as it was in Victorian times.
My point here is that the religious organisations are doing a good job, but there are no state controls in place to ensure that they do a good job. It’s all voluntary. When we discover that standards have fallen far short of the mark, as with the scandal at one home for boys some years ago, we realise just how dangerous this is. There are more restrictions and regulations for cafes and restaurants than there are for homes for abandoned children.
First children, now animals
Now we are seeing the same thing happen with abandoned animals. Rumours have been circulating for years about Freddie Fenech’s alleged misuse of funds given to him for the upkeep of the dogs in his care. People would ring me, and ask me to investigate the goings-on at his dog-shelter.
I would say that I don’t work as a reporter and then pass the message on to those who are reporters. At least five years ago, one veterinarian, while checking my dog, told me of her concerns about the shelter. None of her colleagues had ever been called to the place even though they had offered their services free of charge. Fenech, she said, rebuffed any attempt at paying a ‘house call’.
People who offered to adopt a dog were not asked to collect the dog at the shelter. Fenech would meet them somewhere else, dog in tow. This happened to me, when I gave a home to one of his puppies some years ago after seeing a notice in the newspapers. An acquaintance did succeed in going there, after insisting that he wanted to choose his own dog. He said he felt ill at the overwhelming stench and misery.
I pointed out that anywhere dogs are kept confined in large numbers there is bound to be a great stench and a sensation of misery, which is why I disapprove of shelters on principle and believe that dogs which cannot be homed should be put down, rather than being kept in concentration camps by well-meaning people who are projecting their own anthropomorphic sentiments onto them. “No,” my acquaintance said, “it was more than that. It was terrible.”
The veterinarian who spoke to me all those years ago pointed out that if none of her colleagues were seeing dogs from Freddie Fenech’s shelter, then the dogs at Freddie Fenech’s shelter were not being neutered. She didn’t think that bitches were being kept separate from dogs, with disastrous results.
And even in the unlikely scenario of their being separated, while unneutered bitches might snap at each other and get on each other’s nerves, unneutered dogs would form a hierarchical pack and fight to the death, with the weakest members of the pack living in a constant state of fear and tension and physically prevented by the dominant dogs from reaching the food. But anybody who keeps dogs knows this.
Protected by folk-hero status
Freddie Fenech, like Maria Bugeja before him, was ‘protected’ from investigation by the vast well of goodwill he had built up among the public. He appeared on television and in the newspapers, canvassing for funds and appealing for the adoption of puppies. It was difficult to believe that the rumours about abuse were true. One always wants to believe the best in situations like this.
When it was announced some four years ago that Fenech hadn’t paid the shelter’s water and electricity bill and services would be cut off, people went into overdrive to raise funds to help him. The band Winter Moods raised Lm14,000 from a concert and gave him the money.
It was never accounted for and the utilities bills apparently remained unpaid. Though Fenech put himself forward as a representative of the Abandoned Animals Association, it appeared to be an association made up of one person only.
The cracks began to show more clearly when, in newspaper photographs, the women helpers with whom he was once pictured were no longer to be seen, and instead he began to appear with a boy of around 12, described as ‘a helper at the shelter’. Every time I saw that boy in the photographs, carrying some puppies, alarm bells went off.
Boys that young are in school and not cleaning out dog-pounds and coping with the distressing nature of animal shelter work, including cleaning up copious amounts of urine and faeces.
Some weeks ago, one of my convent-school classmates got in touch out of the blue, with more distressing information about the goings-on at the shelter. I had no choice but to believe her. Again I rang a couple of people, but no joy. Busting the myth of Freddie Fenech as Francis of Assisi was a big deal, and there were complications because those who helped out at the shelter refused to speak out in public.
“It’s impossible to run a story on what’s happening at the shelter without the direct testimony of people who work there,” I explained to my old class-mate. “Otherwise, it’s just hearsay and the newspaper is exposed to a libel suit.”
She said she understood, but explained that the helpers were in a Catch-22 position. If Fenech knew they were speaking to the press, he would bar them from the shelter, and what would become of the dogs then? The helpers, she said, had found a way of working around Freddie Fenech.
They would smuggle dogs out for neutering. They would collect donations themselves and not pass them onto him, using the money for food and medicines and surgery.
They had succeeded in improving conditions at the shelter despite the odds. When they began to volunteer there they were shocked at the disaster: unneutered dogs mating with each other and left without food or water for days; dominant dogs killing weaker dogs or other dominant dogs in a hierarchical struggle or in fights over food. To date, they have found homes in Germany for 400 of these dogs, paying for the flights with money they raise or donate personally.
Better the police than the press
In the end, the helpers solved the problem by going to the police instead of the press. That way, they could ensure their continued access to the dogs, while solutions to the years-long problem began to be found. They reported him for the misappropriation of funds donated for a charitable purpose, and for cruelty to animals. Kittens that he collected, they said, would be placed among the dogs, which would rip them apart and eat them.
There is no way on earth that kittens can survive with even one grown dog that has all its instincts intact, still less a great pack of them, so if this is true – and the helpers have no reason to lie to the police – then one must ask what in heaven’s name Fenech thought he was doing. If he had no intention of caring for those kittens, he should have done the decent thing and whacked them over the head or drowned them in a bucket of water.
Fenech is now saying that he will take legal action to clear his name. I cannot see how he can hope to do this, given the strong case against him. Those who volunteered at the shelter, fearing – correctly, as it turned out – that they would not be believed yet still feeling in duty bound to do their best for the dogs, found other ways of raising money themselves.
The money given directly to Fenech, they have told the police, just disappeared. When a French woman made a donation of Lm7,000 straight into the association’s account, Fenech began withdrawing Lm200 every day. When challenged about it, he made excuses.
What pushed the volunteers over the edge finally was the story about Fenech’s rescue of puppies from a ‘dog death camp’ at the former leprosy hospital. The puppies were apparently living among carcasses and bones. The strange thing is that story struck me, too. We must be alert to the subconscious mind, which tells us when something is not quite right, but too often we just move on to the next thing.
Nothing about the puppy shown in the newspaper photograph indicated that it had been foraging after its mother died. Its eyes were clear. Its coat was shiny. It was well fed. It wasn’t cringing or fearful. It takes rather a long time for a dog’s corpse to decay completely in cool weather, by which time the puppies would have long since died of dehydration before they died of lack of food – unless there were rainwater puddles.
A sham rescue operation
Now Freddie Fenech is being accused of having stage-managed that rescue operation. Mario Spiteri, who heads the government’s animal welfare department, told the press that he was stunned to read that newspaper report of the puppy rescue. His officers had inspected the site just days before, after receiving reports, and had found no puppies there.
“Freddie’s rescue had all the characteristics of a well-planned and staged public relations stunt,” Dr Spiteri told reporters. There was more. The carcass and other skeletal remains found at the old hospital were of sheep and goats, not of dogs. This was no ‘dog death camp’.
The full details of Freddie Fenech’s modus operandi should emerge during the police investigations. Until then, we can do nothing but speculate as to his motivation. I cannot help but draw parallels with the case of Angelik Caruana, he of the bleeding Madonna statuette, who sees devils, the Mother of God and his Guardian Angel at Borg in-Nadur, and who suffers the stigmata by appointment every Friday. It is attention-seeking aspiration to popular sainthood, which then grants you immunity as a folk icon, particularly when the realisation dawns that there is money to be had.
If people who believe that Angelik Caruana really spits thorns and is attacked by devils want to give him money to keep him fed while having his visions – and he looks very well fed indeed – then it’s a free country, they’re adults and it’s up to them. But when it comes down to donations given for the care of animals which are used for something else while the animals suffer, then that’s another matter altogether.
The state should investigate Fenech and proceed against him if, as the volunteers claim, there are grounds to do so. But that leaves the state with a big problem which it must face once and for all, without trying to escape from it by depending on charity: ultimately, abandoned animals are its responsibility, and it should stop depending completely on charity.
This article is published in The Malta Independent today.
56 Comments Comment
Reply to Christine H Click here to cancel reply
I DON’T SEE THE CONNECTION WITH ANGELIK & YR PIECE. NOR DO I SEE WHY YOU SHOULD GROUP CHILDREN WITH ANIMALS!
[Daphne – Ooooh, my. If you can’t see the link between Angelik Caruana and Freddie Fenech, you might consult a psychologist who can explain the similarities. I don’t group children with animals: the Maltese state does, as two groups of vulnerable creatures who are outside the responsibility of the welfare state, relying instead on the Victorian means of charity to lift the burden. I could have included, too, the physically and mentally handicapped.]
There’s money to be made among the gullible. Having met the guy, I’m very sad to hear this about him.
I must admit to being in a state of shock at what’s going on with Freddie Fenech.
I am not sure I agree with putting healthy dogs down though. I think the real solution is a good neutering campaign, that so far has not happened. I don’t believe it should be that hard and yes, the government should help fund it.
I seem to recall (but am not sure) several foreign vets who had volunteered to come over for the sole purpose of neutering strays (a campaign organised by some Maltese NGO) but they were not allowed to do so – though this was possibly before EU membership.
David Buttigieg – I think that this could be what you were “talking” about:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090118/letters/american-vet-volunteers-without-a-permit
Yes, Amanda, thank you, and I believe there were previous cases, too.
The solution is easy… neutering as a law.
[Daphne – That’s nonsense. How can parliament legislate to make neutering dogs mandatory? The problems are with strays, and strays de facto belong to nobody. That’s why they’re called strays. You can’t force people to neuter their pets. That’s insane. For a start, they might be pedigree dogs kept for breeding.]
I don’t give a hoot about breeds… to me a dog/cat which is not classified as a pure breed has the same value as one which is classified as common.
[Daphne – That’s all well and good, but the fact remains that they don’t have the same value. The price is set by the market. You’re getting your animals confused with your humans.]
Now if the general public stops treating live creatures as being a BMW or a LADA than the stray population would be null because people would go for dogs/cats and not brands!
[Daphne – Is that how you picked your wife or girlfriend? Somehow, I doubt it. I’ll bet you went for the best-looking, nicest, brightest and most interesting woman you could get, and not just the nicest.]
This explains why 99% of stray dogs are mongrels. (The ””pure”’ stray will probably be ill with sandfly).
[Daphne – You’re quite wrong there. There is only one kind of dog that is highly resistant to sandfly, and it’s a pure breed: the tal-fenek.]
Many choose a type of dog/cat because they feel that their social level increases…and as a show off. Making money out of breeding while homeless animals die in the street or owners kill the puppies/kittens as soon as they are born just because there are not enough homes isn’t what a human being should do. Some might say that neutering causes dogs/cats to put on weight…. that’s true, but only if you give your pet too much food and not enough exercise.
“The price is set by the market. You’re getting your animals confused with your humans”… if people stop considering pure breeds as something more special and don’t buy them, breeding as business will simply stop. [Daphne – Yes, and the same might happen to the distinction between Giorgio Armani and Top Shop, I don’t think.]
“Is that how you picked your wife or girlfriend? Somehow, I doubt it. I’ll bet you went for the best-looking, nicest, brightest and most interesting woman you could get, and not just the nicest.” – Those whom I didn’t choose are not roaming hungry in the street. [Daphne – No, but they might still be single. And men don’t choose women; the woman has to choose them, too.]
Unfortunately, live creatures are not like tinned food which you can store in a room and bring out only when needed. Strays could be reduced or eliminated if dogs are neutered and homed and if possible a moratorium for a couple of years on breeding is in place (or is strictly controlled).
Neutering is only palliative.The answer to this problem is responsible ownership and enforcement of the law, apart from education.
We have been asking for this from the very beginning of our involvement in animal rescue (mainly that of dogs).
We met Minister Pullicino in September 2004. The main items on the agenda were to request regulations and veterinary supervision of these sanctuaries and registration by microchip. I am still amazed how the Malta Kennel Club and the Canine Society do not make it mandatory to have dogs registered by microchip before issuing pedigree certificates. I have asked them formally, a couple of times already, to do so.
None of the above requests have materialised. Animal Welfare remained in the doldrums until Dr Mario Spiteri took over as Director of Animal Welfare Promotion and Services.
The vets themselves have a lot to answer for, if they had reports and their own personal suspicions of what was ongoing at AAA and did nothing about it. My great-grandfather (the first Maltese vet) must be rolling in his grave, as would be my grandfather … he too was a vet.
The government accepted my pre-election proposal and added it on to the party manifesto, for what it is worth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t96pagM1W2k
This legislature promises well for the fate of our dogs. Meanwhile, visit our sanctuary and you will find that there are many pedigree dogs too that were abandoned. We too, as well as AAA, have sent dozens of pedigree dogs overseas. In 2006 we paid for the vaccinations of ALL of the AAA dogs – there were 180 of them at the time. All abandoned and stray dogs have our support, within our means, of course. Our accounts are audited and transparent, as is now, finally, required by law of all the other registered animal sanctuary NGOs.
[Daphne – Perhaps I should mention the name of the sanctuary to which you are linked – Noah’s Ark.]
Hey Daphne, I ought to have done, indeed … but I did give you the email address and website: noahsarkmalta.org. Wishing a happy Easter to you and all those commenting here.
Indeed, the picture above gives the impression of a concentration camp. It is terrible to hoard dogs in confined spaces. You are very correct in writing that this only compounds the suffering of the dogs and they would be better off if put down humanely. However, I invite you to Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary and you will see first hand that the dogs there are very happy. Their quality of life was paramount in our minds when setting up the sanctuary.
We could acutually leave the gate open and they would wander off briefly only to return promptly to their precincts.
The solution to the problem of strays is simple but not acceptable to so-called animal lovers, so it will never happen. Legislation should be enacted obliging registry and tagging (microchip) of all dogs and cats similarly to cows, pigs, goats etc.
Owners should be made to pay an annual licence to keep cats and dogs. [Daphne – Why, exactly? To fund what? Just for the sheer hell of it?]
Neutered animals should pay only a nominal annual licence say five euros, while the licence for non-neutered animals should be heftier, say 100 euros.
Owners who keep more than three pets should be made to apply for a special breeding licence subject to stringent conditions and the approval of neighbours.
[Daphne – I’m sorry, but I just don’t agree with such control-freakery. Shades of fascism and communism. Next thing you know, there’ll be demands to have refrigerators licensed because of their carbon footprint.]
In this manner, any cat or dog found roaming the streets can be traced to the owner through the microchip and the owner can be fined for letting the animal out alone this applies especially to cats.
Any non-microchipped animal found roaming the streets is put down immediately. [Daphne – I’m afraid that might run headlong into property rights issues.]
Unfortunately, this will never happen and packs of stray dogs will continue roaming the streets, selfish owners will continue soiling pavements and scores of cats dirty neighbours’ roofs and gardens in highly urbanised areas.
[Daphne – The solution to stray dogs is to round them up and put them down. And I like dogs. I just don’t anthropomorphise them.]
The licence fee would be to finance the registry and the culling of strays. [Daphne – We pay taxes for that already. I don’t see why those who keep their pets well should be specifically targetted to pay for the mopping-up of the problems caused by those who don’t.]
Why do you call it control freakery? The system already exists, all farm animals are registered, tagged and numbered. [Daphne – That’s for health and sanitation reasons. We don’t eat dogs.] If animals are found untagged in a farm they are destroyed even if perfectly healthy, so the issue of property rights is irrelevant. [Daphne – I repeat, we don’t eat dogs.]
My idea is not to control people but to control selfish behaviour. [Daphne – Oh, and how are you going to do that! By regimenting people in some commie or fascist fashion? Human beings are by nature selfish. Let it rest. What next – legislating against people leaving their spouses, because it’s selfish?] In urban areas people have to put up with neighbouring pets, smells, barking, droppings etc. [Daphne – And they also have to put up with the owners. So what are you proposing?]
Re your last comment I agree fully that strays should be put down. I would consider all non-microchipped animals as strays and put them down.
I am no control freak, don’t worry. I just love gardening. I happen to have a modest front garden and am blessed with three neighbours who think they are the Mother Theresa of stray cats, leaving food outside at all hours. At worst I counted 15 cats in MY garden destroying all my efforts at gardening plus treating MY garden as kitty litter.
When I spoke to the mayor he said there is nothing I can do legally. If I take any initiative then I would be breaking the animal cruelty law. By the way, explaining the situation politely to the neighbours is useless: been there, tried that.
Mr. Attard, have you ever tried electric fencing or a wee Jack Russell? They work with foxes.
I think a better solution is neutering strays, even if leaving them loose!
How can someone be so cruel? To understand what trying to keep strays off the roads means, you must go and work as a volunteer even just for a week, then tell me if you have the heart to ’round strays up and put them down’.
[Daphne – Believe me, I would have no problem at all, if I couldn’t find them a home, of course. There’s no room for maudlin sentiment in these situations. I find it quite odd that you revolt against the thought of a newborn kitten being killed with a blow to the head, when every week on these islands, hundreds if not thousands of rabbits are killed in precisely the same way. How do you think they reach your table – by lethal injection? That would make their meat unfit for human consumption. Your definition of cruelty is subjective – no doubt, mine is, too. I think it is cruel to keep animals alive to satisfy some form of misguided craving.]
You definitely do not know what you’re talking about. [Daphne – Yes, I do. I know what you know, and I interpret it differently. I don’t operate a sliding scale of animals which deserve to live and animals which don’t deserve to live. I’m not about to say that dogs should be provided with social services while cows and rabbits are killed to feed me – not that I eat rabbit.]
People should be educated in how to take care of their pets and NOT abandon them. [Daphne – Should, would, could….people ill-treat children, Anthea. Of course they are going to ill-treat animals. Do you really think that the reason fathers burn their infants with cigarettes is because, when they were growing up, they were never subjected to an information campaign telling them they shouldn’t do so? Cruelty is an inherent part of human nature. Men beat women. Women beat children. Children torture cats. It’s got nothing to do with educational campaigns or the lack of them.]
And people should be encouraged to neuter their pets pure breed or not. [Daphne – Encouraged being the operative word, but what you really mean is forced.] We have too much strays here in Malta and associations like AAA which I personally know the volunteers and I was a volunteer myself do a lot of sacrifices and work because they love these creatures! [Daphne – Yes, I know one or two of the volunteers, too, and I agree with you here. Where we part company is in the belief that we should have institutions to house abandoned dogs. Dogs are just like any other animal. If there is nobody to look after them, and no money for their upkeep, they should be put down. Please explain to me how a dog is different to a cow, and I don’t mean the obvious, but the difference in status, as perceived by you, that gives a dog special rights that a cow does not have.]
And there should be laws against animal cruelty so maybe people one day will learn [Daphne – There are laws already and have been for more than a century.], and also it is a good idea that all dog and cat owners have their pet microchipped. [Daphne – Agreed.]
Daphne, very timely. I just read a piece in The New York Times today by Nicholas Christoph entitled ‘Humanity even for non-humans’. In the article he quotes Jeremy Bentham, the philosopher who, 200 years ago, responded to Kant’s lack of interest in animals by saying “The question is not, can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer?”
I wonder if Mr Fenech would understand.
“…but can they suffer?” I remember being flabbergasted, some years ago, when this very question was answered by a gesticulating chief justice emeritus on that dreadful Xarabank. Animals have no feelings, he informed us. And these guys sit in judgement over us.
‘So dependent is the state on the goodwill of nuns and priests in looking after all of Malta’s abandoned children that its agents believe they cannot afford to exercise pressure by putting strict controls in place.’
There is another sector which you did not refer to: old people’s homes. The treatment meted out to residents in some private homes is despicable. Complaining to the Ministry of Social Policy elicits the response that the administration is powerless because the state cannot afford to live without these private homes.
[Daphne – At least the state provides some care itself in this sector. In the the two I mentioned, as with badly handicapped people, it provides no care at all.]
I have to clarify that my previous comment referred to private commercially-operated homes (and not church ones).
Our group used to organize dog walks with AAA – we used to go there and the AAA volunteers would give us some dogs to walk and return. We used to donate dog food (not cash, because someone told me about these rumours and we played it safe).
The dogs were often very dirty and often hungry, and from the outside, the shelter seems very badly maintained and dangerous to access, especially for kids; we were never allowed to get in the shelter because of “hyper or violent” dogs.
We stopped when one of our friends clashed with Freddie because the latter shouted at his kid for no particular reason. I just say that I believe that if someone cannot be considerate with kids, he cannot be considerate with dogs.
I would like to add that the volunteers we dealt with were very friendly and seemed to love the dogs. We’ll know the truth once the investigation is over.
Hopefully, this exposure will mean that Freddie Fenech and his playpen (yes, children’s playpen) housing puppies will no longer be an eyesore near on the front near Fortizza / Ferro Bay on summer evenings.
Finally this man will be put in place – away from dogs. He’s been abusing dogs for too long now. Does anyone remember the Manoel Island saga, when he squatted on a chunk of land and hoarded 100s of dogs kept in the most appalling conditions – dogs riddled with disease, literally tearing at each other with stress and frustration. Until the ALE stormed the place and put down a number of them under the supervision of a veterinarian. The healthy dogs, around 25, were transferred to another sanctuary.
After this incident the people felt sorry for “poor Fred” whose dogs were cruelly taken away from him and killed. No legal steps were taken against him for cruelty to animals. Oh no, he went on and on deceiving the public with his publicity stunts, gradually realising that one can make a good fast buck through the misfortune of many dogs which he picked up from the street.
The general public believed and trusted this man and he should be made to answer for that – and after that, he should disappear forever and let others who are prepared to do the work and who really care look after those stray animals.
I just hope that this time round, justice will be done for the sake of the many dogs who suffered or died a cruel death whilst under his care. The handful of volunteers who finally plucked up the courage to go to the police after his fancy story about the “starving dogs’ ought to be applauded and not criticised as many are doing on http://www.timesofmalta.com.
Here’s a good true story about inane beauracracy. A retired foreign vet living in Gozo offered his services for free so he can neuter cats and dogs at the Gozo SPCA (a very professionally managed organisation, I might add). Unfortunately greed reared its ugly head. The local vets objected as this meant their ”livelihood” was threatened, can you imagine. The foreign vet was actually taken to court and fined because he was practising his profession illegally……
Here we go again, Mr Attard, yawn, yawn, preaching about the culling of strays as you usually do on other blogs. What an easy way out. The problem of strays will never be solved unless selfish people stop treating animals as though these are objects which they can dispose of as they please.
Re your neighbours’ cats fouling your front garden, and taking it out on these cats, does it ever occur to you that you could also be some sort of nuisance to your neighbours as well?
I rarely comment on blogs and when I do, it’s only on this one. The subject of strays was never discussed before here so how can you say that I am always preaching about this? My surname is very common, as are strays.
So what are you suggesting, that I cannot enjoy my property and that cats have a right to foul it? How am I being a nuisance by growing roses, dhalias and petunias on my property? So by your reasoning I can grow flowers on your window-sill or hold a barbecue on your roof. Private property is sacrosanct and I have a right to enjoy mine without other people’s cats trespassing.
Janine, I suggest you go to Ta’ Qali in the evening. The place is crawling with strays. You won’t solve the problem of selfish people. There will always be plenty of those around. The dogs should be tranquillised with a dart-gun and placed in a dog’s home. Other that that, if there are dangerous dogs, then yes, they should be culled. No one wants a rabid dog to pounce on him while having a night walk. [Daphne – There is no rabies in Malta.]
With regards to Mr. Attard’s cat problem, he has my sympathy. I thought pets should be kept at home, not running round to other people’s places.
This is out of place (apologies), but Sander’s making ends meet is too good to miss:
http://www.maltastar.com/pages/ms09dart.asp?a=892
I couldn’t understand what he was talking about. He really is clueless when it comes to writing. The guy doesn’t even know how to use commas, and I think at his age that’s a bit sad. Sander, stick to what you’re good at, i.e. performing comedy shows.
Mr Attard – of course you have a right to enjoy your flower garden; no one said you couldn’t. My point is that we all have to put up with each other, be it humans or animals since the latter have become domesticated. Maybe someone in your neighbourhood suffers from hay-fever or some other sort of allergy which is not uncommon nowadays, and is suffering because of your flowers. Do you ever think of this?
We got a lovely mongrel bitch from Freddie some three years ago. Her name is Sandy and she’s become part of the family as much as any of us. We didn’t pay the man a cent and he never asked for anything.
Here he’s portrayed as a swindler and paedo too? [Daphne – Paedo? Where did you get that?]
I never got the impression he’s living lavishly. Wherever I saw him he had dogs in tow. Full time 24/7 dogs home. So what if he pocketed some of the donations as a salary? If he was up to the job, then good for him. Is there anything wrong with people being salaried for working in charity? Yes, maybe he wasn’t very tactful and exposed himself to speculation and suspect.
The comparison with Maria Bugeja is what sparked me to write in. Whilst I see the resemblance, Freddie is much less of an air-bag at least in my mind.
[Daphne – I think we should respect the opinions of the volunteers who worked there for years. They know far more than either you or I could ever have to go on just by adopting one of his dogs. And yes, it is wrong to pocket for personal use money given for the care of the dogs. That’s why all charities should be audited.]
Pierangelo – If people donate money towards a particular cause, then it is wrong for that money to be pocketed by anybody for their own personal needs.
I hope people won’t be put off contributing to the welfare of animals. There are so many shelters that need our help. The charity shops are also doing a good job. I donate regularly to the San Gwann one.
I think pets should be licensed and the money collected go towards neutering of strays. Some months ago, many animal NGOs received money from the government towards neutering. I received a leaflet from one of them asking for info of cat colonies to help them locate them all.
Dogs roaming the streets form packs and even the most gentle dog seems to revert and they can be very dangerous indeed.
Audited? That’s a laugh!! Like you said, the state turns a blind eye, let alone regulate and audit.
What I’m saying is that all this probably started innocently with a dog or two and then snowballed from there. I don’t see it as an orchestrated “get rich quick” scheme he should be jailed for. If he took pocket money like his volunteers are saying, he should be strongly reprimanded and stopped from carrying on. I still believe he has some honest underlying love for dogs to have got himself in that situation in the first place. That shouldn’t all go to waste.
The way you put, “…he began to appear with a boy of around 12, described as ‘a helper at the shelter’. Every time I saw that boy in the photographs, carrying some puppies, alarm bells went off.” What do you mean by that? That he was Fagin, faggot, what? What alarm bells?
[Daphne – That all his women helpers had deserted him and he was reduced to relying on a 12-year-old boy who wouldn’t question the decisions of an adult – you have a dirty mind.]
Pierangelo, and why is it that our Freddie here does not take up a normal job if he wants a salary? Please don’t tell me that it’s because of his love of dogs because I just won’t buy it. I don’t know about you all, but I’m always a bit suspicious of men who are perfectly healthy, but are somehow always out of a job……a case in point is Angelik Caruana. One plays St. Francis of Assisi, the other plays Bernardette Soubirous. Idle hands are the devil’s tools…..
As far as I know, Freddie is a retired policeman so he gets (or at least is entitled to) a full service pension. He can stay at home and do nothing if he wants to.
Dear Daphne,
While agreeing that the government cannot continue to remain comfortably cushioned with its arms behind its head because these NGOs are doing its dirty work for free, knowing that the government spends thousands of euros (if not millions) on parties, travelling, transport and also salary increases, there is only one thing that really irked me in your article: the solution to animals.
Daphne, I think that the animals should not die because of people’s ignorance and selfishness. The dogs should be neutered. We must also introduce the idea of benefits when adopting a dog/cat from a sanctuary such as free coupons, discounts from vets, pet-food etc. There have to be stricter laws when it comes to breeding. I don’t know how to go about that one, but something has to be done. Why should people “use” an animal to breed with the intention of selling the offspring?
Another thing that I’ve been trying to encourage is the use of community service. I believe voluntary work is important because for once, we could do something without expecting money in return. We live in a society which is self-gratified. If we give community service verdicts for small offences, I think that both the individual and sanctuaries will gain. Individually because it has been proven that people are helped psychologically when taking care of animals and receiving their affection in return. And the sanctuaries will gain as well because they need more help.
Why whack the animal on head or drown them Daphne? I really did not expect such a comment like that from you. [Daphne – I was referring to newborn kittens. That’s the usual practice. It’s not any more cruel than ‘putting them down’.] With your argument you are contradicting yourself: you are saying that chucking kittens among dogs to be eaten is cruel. [Daphne – Yes, it is. It’s much more humane to whack them over the head or drown them.] Fine and I agree with you 100%! But you are not offering a better solution! You are only offering an alternative way of a cruel death! [Daphne – All death is cruel. You just have to find the least cruel way out. I’m not a vegetarian.]
So while agreeing with you 100% that the government cannot continue relying on the sanctuaries (it should be the other way round – sanctuaries should rely on the government’s help), I believe that although sometimes these sanctuaries do fall below the standards required, I am sure that many people – yourself included – cannot but admire the volunteers’ hard work, in the scorching sun or pouring rain! [Daphne – Yes.]
John Meilak – I know exactly what there is in Ta Qali, thank you. The packs of strays you mention are there thanks to the very nice humans who dump them.
What an enlightening solution you came up with. And which dogs’ home, may I ask, are you suggesting we place all these strays? You really have no idea, do you, about the situation regarding strays in Malta? Well, let me give you an idea: the government co-funds the SPCA which is a tiny pokey place in Floriana with a skeletal paid staff and 100 or so dogs and cats. Then there are another three sanctuaries which are solely run by volunteers who I can assure you do not even pocket a cent. These are all chock-a-block and are in desperate need of more volunteers.
As Daphne pointed out, the state does nothing to help sort out the number of strays except for a one-off neutering campaign, and literally dumps the problem on others. It’s nice, dear John, to sit back and come up with so many solutions, but before doing so, let’s get our facts right which is by far not the case with you since you think we have rabies in Malta.
Pierangelo – do you call throwing kittens with dogs until these are eaten alive “an honest underlying love for dogs”? Or small and large dogs, neutered or not, put together in the same pen? Or terminally ill dogs, riddled with disease, left to die on their own? I don’t think you or any animal-lover would do this. Yes, the man found over the years that money came easy through this sort of abuse, and it’s not just pocket-money we’re talking here but thousands of liri unaccounted for, not to mention animal cruelty for which unfortunately there is no decent law in Malta.
– Janine
“And which dogs’ home, may I ask, are you suggesting we place all these strays? You really have no idea, do you, about the situation regarding strays in Malta?”
Well, if the government has enough money to spend on putting flowers on roundabouts then I think it wouldn’t be a problem to buy an old farmhouse or two and house them in there. And let’s face it, half of these stray dogs should be neutered to reduce the dog population.
However if you want to go high-tech, there are GPS dog collars. Expensive yes, but very reliable in tracking these dogs. It’s being done to track wild animals in national parks in the US. [Daphne – Bit pointless putting a GPS collar on your dog when we don’t have a GPS tracking system to deal with them. GPS collars don’t operate in a vacuum; they need to be locked into a network, the kind of network that Datatrak uses, only that particular one can’t be used for dog-collars. There’s another problem: a GPS collar is not going to help if a dog is stolen – the thieves will remove the collar – and it won’t work if the dog is lost or running around, either, because you would be amazed to know that the bil-guh Maltin actually steal collars off wandering dogs.]
“It’s nice, dear John, to sit back and come up with so many solutions, but before doing so, let’s get our facts right which is by far not the case with you since you think we have rabies in Malta.”
Well, I’ve heard that there are cases of leprosy running around in Malta. If you don’t believe me, I’ll forward you to the pharmacist who told me. [Daphne – Cases of leprosy running around Malta. Indeed.] If there’s that, why shouldn’t I believe there aren’t any rabies in some dogs? For all I know, the state doesn’t have any medical statistics regarding animals. [Daphne – John, take it from us: there is no rabies in Malta. It was eradicated a long time ago and is the main reason dogs are quarantined when entering Malta.]
– Daphne
GPS uses a global satellite network not a terrestrial one, Daphne. That’s why when you buy a Garmin or TomTom GPS you can use it anywhere in the world, even in remote uninhabited places. [Daphne – The collars you mention have absolutely nothing to do with the kind of GPS system you’d have in your car. They are a tracking system using the same sort of network that Datatrak uses here to track vehicles.]
You can also make use of public wi-fi networks to determine the position of objects, though it is not that accurate. [Daphne – You haven’t a clue what you’re on about.]
Okay re stolen collars: you can embed a GPS chip under the dog’s skin. [Daphne – Again, you speak without access to the facts. My dogs are microchipped. Though they can be identified through this microship, they cannot be tracked because……we don’t have the tracking network in Malta. Now do you believe me?] If it detects any tampering it will send a priority signal to the boys in blue. [Daphne – No, it won’t. You’re thinking of Datatrak, again. The systems are not compatible.] Yes I know the “Maltin bil-guh syndrome”. Once, as a test, I left two half-broken pots on the doorstep. Next day, they weren’t there.
He is actually right on the gps system for dog collars. There are collars using gps for the positioning and either radio signals (which are technically useless on the island, unless there is a frequency opened up for them – the police network, which is sometimes used abroad for this purpose, is most likely illegal to tap into), but there are also collars which report back over the gsm (or gprs to be more precise) network, which would be fully functional here as well. [Daphne – That’s what I said, Pat: the collar needs a network, and a collar is useless when dogs are stolen. The best way is not a collar but a microchip embedded under the skin. My dogs have that. But those need to be linked to a network, too. Their advantage is that if the dogs are stolen, the thief can’t claim that they’re his.]
Obviously the two last points are completely off. Using wi-fi networks to position dogs? Uhmm… What? Also, a gps chip under the skin… with a radio/gsm transmitter…. and enough battery power to keep it running for x number of years… Only Dr. McCoy could solve that.
Dear Daphne,
Death is something that we are all scared of (even if some say they are not). There is no “sweet” choice how to die. Obviously there are ones which are more grotesque than others but still, death is death.
Drowning is one of the worst deaths one can ever experience. I think that it is very cold (sorry I wish I had another word, I am not being nasty to you Daphne) to say that drowning or whacking them on the head is a HUMANE way! It is KILLING. Simple. I’m not a vegetarian either but in my opinion, I think you are portraying these two “solutions” of yours as something socially acceptable, when in reality it is barbaric. [Daphne – They’re not my solutions and they’re not barbaric. Humans kill animals, for food or for other reasons. You just have to find the quickest, cleanest way to do it, and with newborn kittens, it’s a few seconds in a bucket of water or a one-second whack over the head. You’re not a vegetarian, you say – well, how do you think the animals you eat are killed? I’ve seen it done, and I spent the rest of the day feeling sick. It didn’t stop me eating meat.] I’m not a lawyer, but I think that if someone reports someone doing such things, they can be arrested, no? [Daphne – No, because murder applies only to humans.]
So while I understand what you’re trying to say deep down, the solution is not a simple one. Still, I am hoping that the government will finally help out a bit. Let me place a question for everyone: if you run over or find an injured dog or cat, what can you do? I want you to imagine that it’s a Sunday or public holiday. There’s nothing that you can do. [Daphne – Actually, there is: an emergency vet service. It costs quite a lot just for telephone call, which is done to stop people making nuisance calls, and then you pay the call-out vet. Unfortunately, when people say ‘there was nothing I could do’ what they really mean is ‘there was nothing I could do for free’.]
1. You cannot call the emergency number for animals from your mobile phone. [Daphne – There’s a billing reason for this, because the calls are charged at a premium rate.]
2. No sanctuary will take it in because they’re full to the brim (I don’t blame them and I think that although they do their best, they are still low on human and financial resources.
3. Who will take care of the animal after it is saved, given medication etc? Chuck it out again? [Daphne – No, for heaven’s sake: an injured stray should just be put down. There is no point in being sentimental. Pets are saved not because they have an intrinsic ‘right to life’ but because their owners love them and want them saved. Dogs have as much right to life as the cows you eat.]
I know from experience. No one helps. The only person that did come to check on a runover cat on a Sunday afternoon (with both MLP and PN supporters at that time honking their horns on their way to mass meetings and nobody helping me to pick up this half dead cat in the middle of the road after it was run over by some idiot in an Escort who didn’t even stop to check but ran off) was Freddie. I do not wish to get into the debate of what he did or didn’t do as that is for the court to decide and I hope that ijustice will be done, but I still want to thank him for coming over to help me and the Fgura police concerned.
Should anyone like to join a group on Facebook: More Animal Awareness in Malta Please! – feel free
Thanks Daphne and hope you and your loved ones have a good Easter.
Daphne,
I agree that the government has to start doing something. Why not create a place like Freddie’s but more controlled, with some agents patrolling the streets? I totally disagree with you that drowning or being whacked is no less painful than being euthanised. [Daphne – I’m going to repeat what I said: yes, for newborn kittens it is by far the most efficient solution, which is why people do it all the time. If there weren’t so many squeamish people around there would be fewer abandoned kittens: people don’t want the hassle of taking a day off to queue at the vet and then paying to have six kittens ‘put down’, but they’ve been taught that a bucket of water is ‘barbaric’ and that putting them in a skip is somehow more acceptable.] People that love animals have a pet euthanised because the animal falls in a state of sleep, then passes on. Ask any vet. [Daphne – Yes, with grown animals.]
I am not a vegetarian but I do value an animal’s life and the suffering they go through because a human is stupid. [Daphne – Contradiction in terms, I’m afraid. You can’t claim to value animal life and then eat animals that have been killed for your dinner-table.]
Have you ever been whacked on the head? Have you nearly drowned? I don’t think so, ask a person who has been given an injection before an operation what they feel. It’s not the same.
[Daphne – Have you ever queued up with another hundred terrified humans in narrow stalls, all giving off the keen stench of fear, watching as the ones up ahead are first trapped in a vice, then ‘stunned’ and killed? Obviously not. Well, that’s how you get your meat. I visited one of the cleanest, most hygienic and efficient cow abattoirs in northern Italy, and still I had to be helped out and given a very strong coffee. Images of Auschwitz came unbidden to mind.]
The problem in Malta is that there is not enough animal awareness; here people are cruel to animals because they can be. That is where we should start off. Prevention is better than the cure.
[Daphne – You assess the problem in a vacuum. People in Malta are cruel to animals because our general civic and ethical awareness remains undeveloped. Our cruelty to animals is just part of a much wider and deeper problem: cruelty to children, to spouses, to colleagues, indifference to others, lack of consideration, overbearing selfishness, and grabbing and thieving. To sort out our attitude to animals, you must first sort out our attitude towards life. That is going to take some doing.]
Maybe if we had something similar to this where animals get a second chance. [Daphne – Animals do not need ‘second chances’. They are animals, not humans.]
Maybe it’s time for the Maltese government to stand by its promise regarding animal hospitals and better shelters. Remember the big space which was supposed to be built at Ta’ Qali – people would be more educated about animals, instead of suggestions like hitting over the head or being drowned, as I purely don’t agree with that, animals are a creation of god just like we are; it’s the so called owner who are irresponsible ………http://www.bestfriends.org/dogtown/index.cfm?csid=2759&csii=2763&csit=Set
[Daphne – Flesh-eating bacteria and disease-carrying cockroaches are God’s creatures, too, so what do you propose doing about them? I’m beginning to think that more harm is done to animals by people thinking of them in human terms than by people who treat them like animals. I reiterate my considered belief, based on 20 years of keeping dogs, that dogs are better off dead than kept packed into a compound. Dogs, as a rule, do not like other dogs. They prefer human company, though they will sometimes form a strong bond with just one other dog, not necessarily of the opposite sex but usually of the same sex.]
“People in Malta are cruel to animals because our general civic and ethical awareness remains undeveloped. Our cruelty to animals is just part of a much wider and deeper problem…”
And yet your solution seems the very reflection of this attitude. There is no justification for the culling of animals as you have outlined in this article. If Malta is to be transformed into a society that values the ownership and treatment of animals, then we do not begin by suggesting they are killed with such similar savagery. There are many solutions for the ethical departure of unwanted animals, and you should be using your influence to campaign for their provision by government, not further compounding the problem with such flippancy and disregard for life. It undermined and distracted from an otherwise important article.
[Daphne – I’m sorry, but I disagree. The major problem we have to deal with is the gulf between those who, at one extreme, anthropomorphise animals, and those who, at the other extreme, think of animals as objects. In between, there seems to be largely indifference. Animals feel pain, animals like dogs, which are bred to live in association with humans, have even evolved forms of emotion, but this doesn’t change the fact that they are animals, not people. They have no entitlement to life. The idea that a dog’s life is precious and should be preserved while a cow’s is not and therefore a cow can be killed is completely alien to me. There is no logical or biological justification for it. The problem of what to do about strays is an artificial one that has grown out of this belief that dogs are unlike other animals and shouldn’t be put down. Because we assume, wrongly, that dogs have a right to life while other animals do not, we have created for ourselves a massive problem of dog-housing, dog social-services and dog-medical-care. It is all unnecessary. I admire and respect the initiatives and efforts of the many dog-care volunteers I know, but we respect each other’s opinion and agree to differ on this. I hold strongly to my understanding that dogs forced to live with large numbers of other dogs are constantly under a very high level of stress, and this is in itself a form of cruelty. Dogs are not nature’s creatures. They are domestic animals selectively bred to live in close contact with humans, and to form bonds with humans and not with other dogs. In any environment other than this, they suffer.]
I don’t think of animals in human terms at all. And yes, they do deserve a second chance after they were so cruelly treated by humans if you can call certain individuals that. And what makes you say dogs, as a rule, do not like other dogs? [Daphne – Twenty years’ experience of keeping dogs: domestic dogs are a human creation. They have been selectively bred over thousands of years to serve as ‘useful creatures’ and companions for human beings. The primary bond they form is with their human ‘master’ and not with another dog. Other dogs are competition: competition for food, for human affection and for attention. Not so long ago, a man whose dog bit a stranger on the street was prosecuted. The usual penalty for this is having the dog put down. The magistrate spared the dog and ordered that it be sent instead to live at Freddie Fenech’s sanctuary, with the owner paying for its upkeep, for the rest of its life. And I remember thinking: that’s a much worse punishment for the dog. The dog would rather die than suffer what it thinks is abandonment by its owner, finding itself moving from a comfortable home with individual attention to a horrid place full of stress and hundreds of other dogs.]
They are pack animals. [Daphne – When they revert to the feral state, yes. But this is like saying that human-beings are naturally predisposed to form gangs, because when left to fend for ourselves and survive on the streets, we form gangs.] It’s the irresponsible owners who are at fault here not the animals. And I’m surprise you didn’t comment about me mentioning about the promised large land in Ta’ Qali were they was going to build an animal hospital and so on, land that was then given to someone. If we had resposible owners we wouldn’t even be discussing this sad situation.
[Daphne – I don’t think scarce land and resources should be channelled into providing a state-run and state-funded hospital for animals. Animals have owners. The owners can pay for medical care. If they can’t, they shouldn’t be keeping an animal in the first place. There are very many excellent veterinary clinics in this island. They provide an adequate service. The ‘animal hospitals’ you see in other countries are actually large private veterinary clinics. Do you know what happens when disease is detected in just one member of a herd or flock? The entire herd or flock is culled. I see nobody jumping up and down in protest, because cows, pigs, goats and sheep apparently don’t have the same right to life as dogs and cats.]
Dear Daphne
I really do not understand whose side you’re on! For heaven’s sake: how can you say that “drowning” or “whacking” on the head is not cruel? [Daphne – It is not cruel to a new-born as death is instantaneous. And there are no ‘sides’ in this debate; there are only opinions.] I’m not a vegetarian and neither are you: so that makes us both equal. [Daphne – Equal in what way?] But do not think that I accept animal cruelty. It is a tough subject which neither of us will win regarding poultry: vegetarians or non-vegetarians.
Of course, it’s a crime! [Daphne – No, actually it is not. Killing a human being is a crime, called homicide. Killing a foetus is a crime in Malta. But killing an animal is not a crime. How could it be?]
If you kill an animal deliberately and you do it in a barbaric way (like the method that you’re suggesting) then YES it IS a crime! [Daphne – No, it is not. The crime is cruelty, not killing. Of course you can argue that killing is in itself cruelty, and that’s the conundrum. Anything that brings about instantaneous death is not classified as cruelty.]
I didn’t say “murder”. But it is a crime. [Daphne – I repeat: it is not a crime. If it were, beef would have the same legal status as ivory. Killing a member of a protected species is a crime – an elephant, say, or a tiger or a panda, but that’s not because it’s an animal per se, but because it is endangered. The same legal situation applies with birds in Malta. You don’t commit a crime when you kill a sparrow or a chicken, but you comment a crime when you kill a falcon.]
Why are there campaigns against animal cruelty? [Daphne – Because all forms of cruelty, to animals and other humans, are unacceptable in a civilised society.]
Cruelty = actions which are not normal and horrible. [Daphne – No. It means causing physical pain and/or emotional distress to any living creature. Otherwise, by your definition, eating faeces would be ‘cruelty’.] Simple. I can assure you that cruelty is a crime. [Daphne – Agreed. But killing animals isn’t classified as cruelty. Causing them to suffer through prolonged and painful death is.]
Call the animal sanctuaries! See what they say Daphne! [Daphne – Those who run animal sanctuaries neither lay down the law nor interpret it.]
Who said I want the service for free? My point is one: that it is useless to have an emergency service which cannot be used on a mobile phone. [Daphne – While I agree that it is far from ideal, useless it certainly is not. I have used it myself, ringing from my home phone.]
I know there’s a charge and it’s about Lm2 (old currency) and it’s fine with me. But at least, let’s update ourselves to SmartMalta and let people use the service on their mobile phone. How? Easy dear Daphne! they just deduct the amount of the call from your credit. [Daphne – I don’t think you realise that this is all voluntary, and that nobody is obliged to do anything. We should be grateful for what is offered – on a voluntary basis – rather than criticising it for not being enough. If you feel so strongly about it, organise it yourself, instead of expecting others to do so and going on at them for not doing what you wish to see done. What’s stopping you?] just like what they do on fund raising events when sending an sms!
There are people who want free services, and I don’t agree with them because I do agree with you, Daphne, that some people do want everything for free, but I can assure you it’s not my argument.
So while I understand that it is very hard to see who is right, I think that the ultimate point should be that animals shouldn’t be left in torture: no drowning, no whacking, no burning no nothing. Shall we agree on that point?
[Daphne – The point at which we part company is your definition of a quick whack on the head to a newborn kitten, bringing about instant death, or a quick duck in a bucket, as ‘torture’. I can assure you it isn’t. If you’re that squeamish, you wouldn’t last two days on a farm.]
Dear Daphne,
I really can’t understand your arguments.
“The idea that a dog’s life is precious and should be preserved while a cow’s is not and therefore a cow can be killed is completely alien to me.” Speak for yourself. [Daphne – That’s exactly what I’m doing. But if you wish, I can call on the services of a biologist to point out to you that an animal is an animal is an animal, and on an anthropologist to point out that it is only cultural bias that gives dogs superior status to cows. In India, cows are sacred and dogs are dirt. In Islam, dogs are absolute filth and not allowed anywhere near humans. In Korea, they are eaten.]
“Animals do not need ‘second chances.” Ohh, thats really kind from us ‘humans’. [Daphne – Next time you have a slab of fillet on your plate, ask it whether it might like a second chance.]
“The solution to stray dogs is to round them up and put them down. And I like dogs.” I see that you really do. [Daphne – Yes, I do. And what’s more, I understand their psychology. They no more enjoy being packed with hundreds of others behind wire than do the human beings in our detention centres. Yet we consider it acceptable to keep them in those conditions for the rest of their natural life, because any kind of life is better than death. Wrong – we’ve taken the arguments used for human life and applied them, erroneously, to dogs.]
“It’s much more humane to whack them over the head or drown them.” If Hitler was still alive!!! [Daphne – Hitler was an animal lover, which just goes to show that a love for animals is no great indicator of a person’s character, though I must say that cruelty to animals doesn’t bode well. That said, I have no patience for people who consider animals equal to humans, and I have even less patience for the blasphemy of comparing a thwack to the head of a newborn kitten with the gassing, torture and death by starvation of millions of people in extermination camps.]
“Those who run animal sanctuaries neither lay down the law nor interpret it.” Do you? [Daphne – I certainly don’t lay down the law but I live with a lawyer and when I need to know something I just give him a shout. Not that I need to do so most times, because the law is logical. Once you know the basic principles, and always assuming you can think clearly, there is not much room for confusion on such straightforwardly obvious matters as whether killing an animal constitutes murder.]
The problem in this Smart Island is the selfishness of the people. We think that the animal is at our disposal. [Daphne – I hate to disabuse you of your notions, but yes, animals are at the disposal of humans. This is qualified by our duty to behave responsibly towards animal life.] We keep it as long as we want than we throw them out. [Daphne – What you are talking about here is lack of civic responsibility: the belief that you can dump your mess on others who will clear up after you. It has nothing to do with cruelty per se. It’s the same attitude that leads people to dump spent refrigerators in fields.] After that they will get caught and put down because they are not allowed a second chance. [Daphne – Second chance? I think you’ve spent rather too much time watching Disney films featuring talking animals wearing clothes.]
Please grow up and realise that we are just another creature like all others. [Daphne – Actually, we are not. There are fundamental distinctions between human beings and other creatures.] Who are we decide which animal should live or not? [Daphne – My point exactly. Bear that in mind next time you stamp on a cockroach, eat a chicken or poison a rat.]
Sorry if I offended someone but that’s the way I feel. [Daphne – Cheers to that.]
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give my opinion and Happy Easter to you all. [Daphne – To you too, and remember – if you’re going to be consistent, stick to eating chocolate bunnies, not real ones.]
Just to let you know. Re bunnies, I only eat chocolate ones. I don’t eat meat, I don’t wear fur and leather and I don’t buy animal products.
[Daphne – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_la5XiQJdk&NR=1 ]
[Daphne – The point at which we part company is your definition of a quick whack on the head to a newborn kitten, bringing about instant death, or a quick duck in a bucket, as ‘torture’. I can assure you it isn’t. If you’re that squeamish, you wouldn’t last two days on a farm.]
Seems to me you an expert in these what i call “TORTURES” and “KILLING” an innocent creature. [Daphne – It happens all the time round where I live and it takes a second. Of course, it makes more sense to take your dog or cat to the vet for an abortion, rather than allowing the pregnancy to go through to term and then killing them as they pop out. But that costs money and takes time, and if I were to suggest it I would be considered quite frivolous. People who raise animals for food as a way of life, who kill chickens and take pigs to slaughter, are not going to come over all sentimental about a newborn puppy or kitten, I can assure you. They’d be pretty cracked if they did.]
A quick duck in a bucket????? Have you ever felt like you was drowning??? And yes here will come your argument that we are human and these are just animals, but the feeling of drowning I believe they would feel the same. [Daphne – Hardly.] Or a quick whack on the head?????? [Daphne – It hurts about as much and for as long as that killer injection you all seem to favour. One is ‘barbaric’ because it’s done on the spot, at home, for no money and with no white-coat-wearing professional around to lend a clinical air of authority. The other is not ‘barbaric’ because it takes place in a clinic. I happen to think the whole idea of injections and clinics to have more barbaric overtones than the more straightforward course of action. Shades of that Swiss clinic where people go to drink poison and die. There’s something sinister about the whole thing – why not just stay home and swallow a tub of painkillers? The real truth, of course, is that by handing over the deed to others we do not have to do it ourselves. By bringing in a third party, we can convince ourselves that we have nothing to do with it and that it does not constitute killing.]
You might be the expert knowing were to hit but that doesn’t mean everyone does, as i have experienced this in the UK, were they rescued puppies from a puppy mill with their heads split open as these breeders tried to do what you suggesting. [Daphne – I can assure you that no newborn puppy with its head split open would survive to be rescued. You don’t appear to have seen any newborn puppies. And I mean fresh out, not three weeks old with their eyes open. I’ve never done it myself, never having had reason to as we’ve always had nice dogs and so were able to home the puppies, but have you any idea how all those thousands of rabbits are killed for fenkati? That’s right….You know, there’s a lot to be said for exposing sheltered people to life in the farmyard.]
Don’t tell me that you believe animals don’t feel pain. [Daphne – I won’t, because I don’t. For pain to be felt by any creature, two things are necessary: a brain and nerves to send impulses to the brain. It follows, therefore, that any creature with a brain and nerves is able to feel pain. The ability of certain animals to feel pain has never been a matter of opinion but of biology.]
…….then there are dogs, which has been proven over and over again, as they are loyal and have saved thousands of lives. [Daphne – Dogs have also killed and maimed many people. That is neither here nor there. Dogs are domestic creatures selectively bred by human beings for particular purposes: hunting, sledging, guarding, and so on. They form a strong bond with a human master because they recognise that bond as essential for their own survival, and not because they can in any way work out that it is essential for the owner’s survival. Even when they are protecting their owner, they are, in effect, protecting themselves by ensuring the continuation of their supply of food and shelter. To suggest otherwise is to claim that dogs are capable of the human emotion of altruism.]
And no, I’m not talking about animals that have been bred for these tasks but mongrels, even after been cruelly beaten by previous owners, still seeing the good in humans. [Daphne – You really know nothing about dogs, do you? Mongrels remain essentially domestic creatures. You can’t change thousands of years of genetic evolution by crossing a labrador with dalmation with a terrier with a poodle. Dogs turned out onto the streets at a very young age will become feral, but any puppies born to them and taken into a home, will be just the same as any other socialised dog. Feral dogs are not the result of genetic changes but of social circumstance. Dogs do not ‘see the good in humans’. They recognise humans as a source of food, shelter and company. What they see in humans is good accruing to themselves. All animal behaviour is driven by survival.]
Also I hope you are actually a sensible owner who has her animals neutered so you don’t have to whack or drown them. [Daphne – My dogs are dogs – in other words, male. They have no access to females and hence, do not need to be neutered. Over and above that, one of them comes from prize breeding stock at an international level and neutering him would be a crime.]
Firstly my animals (all ex-strays) are neutered, hence no whacking on the head, drowning or the so called killer injection for kittens or puppies, as I’m a sensible owner…..
Breeding and importing more and more pedigree dogs (even breeds that are not suitable for this island) to make a quick buck (most breeders charge for their puppies) should be banned. [Daphne – Why, because you say so? If people want to buy and raise pedigree dogs, they have every right to do so. It’s really none of your business – or anyone else’s.]
I have seen more than my fair share of newborn puppies and no, they didn’t survive. Boxes and Boxes of dead puppies with the blood covered rock or piece of wood still laying in the box with them, as these irresponsible overBreeders didn;t want to get fined for having more breeding bitches then they were allowed. [Daphne – Fined for breeding dogs? I hardly think so.]
Older puppies and their mothers hidden in a dark room, with headwounds from being hit so not to bark etc. Yes I have seen it. [Daphne – More melodrama. It would help your argument if you could make the link between the cruelty of some dog-owners to a ban on breeding pedigree dogs.]
So you telling me that a newborn puppy or kitten is not a creature? [Daphne – No, I am telling you that the capacity of a newborn kitten to feel pain is markedly less than than of an adult cat. This is not a value judgement.]
[Daphne – Fined for breeding dogs? I hardly think so.]
This is part of the UK law regarding breeding dogs and as I can read it says fine or imprisonment ..(Should a person act in contravention of the provisions of the Act, the Court’s power of punishment are extremely wide-ranging:-
a)a fine; and/or
b)cancellation of the licence; and/or
c)disqualification from keeping an establishment requiring of licence, for such period as the Court thinks fit; and/or
d)disqualification from having custody of any dog of a specified description; and/or
e)up to three months imprisonment)
[Daphne – A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and a non-lawyer trying to interpret the law is even more dangerous. The fines are not for breeding, but for abuse.]
This is not just some cruelty of some dog-owners but the reality in so called puppy mills where pedigree dogs are bred as the owners of these puppy mills are just greedy for the money and don’t care how many litters a bitch has as long as she produces litter over litter. [Daphne – And exactly what do you think happens in nature? That bitches go to the Dog Gynae and get a prescription for the Dog Pill, which they then buy from the Dog Pharmacy? Let me lay it on really thick here: what do you think happens to women in nature, or rather as laid down by the Catholic Church before it discovered the ‘rhythm method’? A baby every year between the age of 18 and the age of 42, and then death at 50.]
Female dogs [Daphne – You mean bitches.] are usually bred the first time they come into heat and are bred every heat cycle. They are bred until their poor worn out bodies can’t reproduce any longer and then they are killed. [Daphne – Oh golly, I’m going to have to give this one a biology lesson, I think. Mr/Ms Bugeja, in the wild, the female of any species of mammal conceives every time she is on heat. In nature, that is the only point of a female: conceiving and reproducing. They conceive, they reproduce and then they die. Human beings were the same before modern life intervened. Women rarely lived beyond the menopause.]
Often they are killed by being bashed in the head with a rock or shot. That why I think breeding should be banned. [Daphne – Given your line of reasoning, we should ban childbirth because there is such a thing as infanticide.]
Also I’m surprised that you cut out your contradiction I found regarding your dogs instead of giving a reasonable explanation. [Daphne – What contradiction? That my dogs are not neutered and yet I don’t breed them? That’s not a contradiction. Women don’t rush off to have their tubes tied when they’re done having children, nor do they dispatch their husbands at gunpoint to get snipped.]
On topic, as always:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waEryHRUEoM
Cão de Água 1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5153717/First-Dog-Bo-arrives-at-Barack-Obamas-White-House.html
Some of the helpers of Freddie Fenech must bear part of the responsibility for this state of affairs. They not only kept quiet for a long time but vehemently attacked whoever dared suggest that anything was amiss. Years ago, members of the SPCA committee, of which I formed part, offered to help and tried many many times to visit the place where Freddie kept his dogs but they were always turned down, with some excuse or other.
Some blame must also be borne by the media who turned Freddie Fenech into a kind of folk hero, portraying him as a providential saver of dogs and never investigating his activities.
(I was away when this affair became public and could not comment earlier about it)