registered with the department responsible for NGOs… NGOs that have everything in order regarding accounts, etc

Mario was successful wherever he was placed because he tackled the task at hand with zeal.

I remember reading in a newspaper (Malta Today, so not the most reliable of sources) the rumour that he was pushed aside from the Health Promotion Department because his view on tackling the spread of HIV included the use of condoms, and that the Catholic Church was none too happy. It would be extremely sad if there is any truth to those rumours.

[Daphne – This tinpot island is a piranha pool of rumours and Chinese whispers. Ignore them all. People are disgusting gossips.]

What do you mean by ‘a recognised sanctuary’? Is it one that is a registered NGO? Because if so, there are more than the ones mentioned. If not so, then who does the ‘recognition’?

The voluntary organisation Happy Paws (clinic in Marsa) is offering free consultation/s to whoever adopts a dog of two years old or more from a recognised sanctuary…(Island Sanctuary inf Delimara, AAA in Luqa, Noah’s Ark in Mellieha).

I don’t know if it applies to cats.

The other day, while walking my dogsin a large field in the vicinity of Naxxar, a lady walking her dogs too, told me that one of her neighbours keeps a dog not unlike the one in your pic for the past three years of its life tied to a chain no longer than half a metre in a drive-way with the garage door ajar (as though he’s getting enough fresh air by doing this) where there was a small bowl of water. This dog urinates and defecates in the same place where he sits.

These people must have spent a fortune on this dog only to leave it wallowing in misery. I simply cannot understand this. Even if the dog was the ugliest mongrel on earth, it surely doesn’t deserve this – no dog does.

Unfortunately, if one reports this to the Animal Welfare Department, they will tell you that as long as the animal has water and shelter, then it’s OK.

Dogs have been domesticated over thousands of years and are meant to live with humans. They want a job to do and not to sit around with a short chain with just a rusty barrel as shelter or a garage, a bowl of water and scraps of food. These animals deserve more dignity than that. They have feelings, but few people seem to understand this.

Well done, Daphne.

The ability to read doesn’t come with the ability to feel compassion, I fear. Coincidentally I had a clash this week, with a tattoed German beef-cake, who beat up his puppy-dog. I told him to stop torturing the dog immediately, otherwise I would call the police. The jerk told me ‘to piss off’, otherwise he would beat ME up. Also he told me, ‘he learned through a book how to treat a puppy’. It was tempting to ask him if he was actually able to read at all. But I didn’t want to provoke him further.

You mean CAN these people read the newspaper? In some cases I wonder if it’s really the animals that should be put down.

This has got nothing to do with your article but I could not stop laughing when I saw it:

S.Mumford (4 hours, 11 minutes ago)
They are making a mockery of us. What more do we need. Too much words, writings, protests etc etc. We have had enough. Send them all back to Libya. Now dear Archbishop will you come out again and state something else in favour of these illegals. Open up all your church properties and keep them at your expense. Dear govt when will you wake up and show who runs this island. How come the authorities turn a blind eye at the hundreds of illegals that line the streets of Marsa waiting for illegal work. Veru Pajjiz tal Mickey Mouse… just ashamed to be a citizen and allow this silent take over of our island. We have been warned and given enough notice, they are spreading at a fast rate all over us. This is the real pandemic not swine flu. They are living off our blood like lychees.

As you would say, this was taken from the times online ‘wisdom of the people’ comments board.

Lychees, anyone?