Submitted by ANIMAL RIGHTS MALTA’S BLOG

Following the SPCA’s Barbara Cassar Torreggiani’s letter in yesterday’s The Times, thanking the government for the provision of funds for a neutering campaign and asking for volunteers to assist in the campaign, today’s The Times publishes three letters on the same topic, and also publishes a news item saying that the Grand Hotel Excelsior has bought and distributed food for the non-human refugees at the Association for Abandoned Animals.

Sylvia Zammit, from the Island Sanctuary Association, among other things, writes:

“I know from personal experience how hard it is to find a home for an unwanted dog. I speak for all the committee and the majority of the Island Sanctuary Association volunteers ‒ the reason we have more than one dog (and cats too!) is because we too could not admit the strays we find, to our sanctuary, nor could we find suitable homes for them. In the circumstances, our only option was to keep them ourselves…

We campaign against cruelty in the hope that people like the dog’s owner (who abandoned him in the first place) would learn what it means to be a responsible pet owner.

We campaign in favour of neutering in the hope that every puppy born would be assured of a good home, instead of being faced with an uncertain future on the streets or being killed because no one wants him or her…

It does not make sense to expect the handful of volunteers involved in animal welfare to make up for the lack of action of the rest of the population!

If more people would actively involve themselves, instead of expecting the government to solve the problem (or the overworked and understaffed sanctuaries!) we might change the situation”.

Stefanie Calleja, among other related things, writes:

“People are letting their own dogs go for walks unattended and if they are not neutered they increase the population of stray dogs. Others just abandon their pet as if it were an object rather than trying to find another suitable home for them. As a result, people are putting pressure on animal shelters but we have to keep in mind that the latter work is on a voluntary basis. They have to contend with lack of space and financial problems, and few people are committed enough. I am one of those volunteers. In spite of that, when I come across stray dogs I do my best to find them a good home, picking them up, neutering them and giving them to their new owners rather than trying to pass on the problem to someone else.

Another shelter must be built, much bigger than the one there is at Floriana (SPCA), giving the dogs or cats another chance and not putting them to sleep because they are hurt, sick or old. The government must give harsher punishments to those who abandon or mistreat their pets. Especially those who are abusing of them by breeding them for money while keeping them in a pitiful state locked up in garages or on roofs. We must control this kind of breeding, we must change the mentality that if we want a pet we have to buy a pure breed one. There are plenty of dogs and cats in sanctuaries who are waiting for the love of a family and by homing one you will not only be saving the life of that dog but of another stray dog who will take its place”.

And Sharon Hurdle, among other things, writes:

“The Stray Animals Support Group (SASG) in Malta was set up by a number of people who have been involved in animal welfare all their lives. The main activities are providing food for abandoned animals, helping with medication and operations, rescuing and providing recovery facilities for injured cats, neutering stray cat colonies (with post-operation recovery facilities), re-homing abandoned cats and dogs and, of course, fundraising to make all these things possible.

SASG endeavours to find homes for some of the animals in its care. They have a selection of cats and dogs suitable for homing”.

And in the same issue, The Times reports that “Staff at the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Floriana have collected funds and bought food supplies for the Association for Abandoned Animals (AAA) in anticipation of their visit to founder Freddie Fenech’s animal shelter in Marsa.

Well over 100 dogs have found refuge at the shelter and are cared for by over 40 volunteers.

These dedicated animal lovers even nurse sick dogs in their own homes not to jeopardise the health of the other dogs.

The hotel said most of these dogs have had unfortunate beginnings and some horrific stories have been told about how these dogs found their way to the shelter.

The Grand Hotel Excelsior will continue to support this cause, and feature one dog in the staff newsletter every month, in the hope of finding it a home”.

Now, you might have noticed that I have called the “stray” and abandoned dogs collected by sanctuaries or found in the streets “non-human refugees”. I have used the word “refugees” on purpose, for two reasons. The first reason is that most cats and dogs are truly refugees, who, like human refugees, face severe hardships through no fault of their own. The second reason is that the solution for both human and non-human refugees is the same one.

Like in the case of human refugees, the problem of non-human refugees, if it is to be ever solved, must be dealt with at the source of the problem. In the case of non-human refugees, the source of the problem is the prevalent human perception that non-human animals are human property, where humans see nothing wrong in using non-humans as breeding machines just so that (in the case of pet animals) humans have a steady supply of pets who, at best are used for companionship, and at worst are used for dog-fights, as guard-dogs, or in extreme but common cases, for vivisection.

As long as non-human animals are considered to be human property, any commendable work done by committed animal sanctuary volunteers and other committed and kind individuals, only serves to alleviate the symptoms. And when one deals only with the symptoms, the malady remains or returns.

The situation is no different from the one dealt with by those working with human refugees, where as long as hardship, poverty, torture and other abuses persist in their countries of origin, the refugees have no alternative but to keep on risking their lives to escape (and end up on our shores). Despite all the hard work done by volunteers to alleviate the suffering of refugees and to defend their rights, there will be no end to their plight unless the Western supposedly “civilized” world steps in to tackle the problem at source.

In the case of non-human refugees, the only permanent solution to the problem is the realization that non-humans are not disposable human property. This in effect means that humans have no right to breed, use, sell or buy non-human animals as if they were consumable goods.

Failure to understand non-human animals’ right not to be treated as human property will only mean that non-humans will continue to be enslaved and trafficked (by breeders who use their dog slaves as breeding machines and sell their offspring), and used by humans who buy them (and therefore see them as little more than mere objects), to be discarded when the novelty of having a “cute” pet wears off.

In the meantime, a few kind and responsible individuals work against all odds to help non-human refugees, by providing them shelter, feeding them and paying for their medication, and sometimes, perhaps as a thank-you gift, facing harassment from people who should know better.

As long as the property status of non-humans remains part of our culture, the life-saving work of kind-hearted volunteers will remain like a drop in the ocean. And in the meantime, some of the same people who regard non-human animals as disposable property, will keep on expecting that the few volunteers caring for non-human refugees, will perform miracles with their limited funds and resources, and will collect and care for all the non-human animals who are left or abandoned to fend for themselves in our busy streets.

Of course, there will be those who would call my simple and just solution, (that of banning the breeding, selling and buying of non-human animals), “extremist”. Presumably, such speciesist people’s solution, no different from the racist’s solution, would be to eliminate their inconvenience by killing, or letting die, all refugees.

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