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animal rights
Birgu council gives animals a voice


Photo by Paul Blandford

MANY NGOS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE WORK THAT COULD BE DONE IN ANIMAL WELFARE ON A LOCAL LEVEL. BIRGU LOCAL COUNCIL, SPEARHEADED BY MAYOR JOHN BOXALL, IS CERTAINLY PLAYING ITS PART IN THIS REGARD, AS KURT SANSONE DISCOVERS.

A few weeks ago the Birgu local council took the initiative of setting up a sub-committee on animal welfare - the first initiative of its kind in Malta.

Birgu mayor, John Boxall, said that he had been toying with the idea for some time.

"The council has always co-operated with animal welfare groups, but has now decided it is the right time to take a pro-active approach," he explained.

The committee is headed by councillor Godwin Vassallo and brings together four other residents, all of whom are animal lovers, including the Magrin brothers, who have been active in animal welfare groups for years.

Mr Boxall explained that numerous Birgu residents have pets.

"But not everybody treats them well," he admitted. "This was the main reason behind the founding of the committee."

He explained that the main aim was to educate people on how to care for their pets. The council strongly believes in education as a tool to push a positive message forward.

"We have recently mailed a list of vets on the Maltese islands to every household and the committee will shortly start organising talks on animal welfare," he said.

The Birgu mayor is a firm believer in direct communication with the residents. "It is better to seek compliance from residents rather then force them to change their mentality," he explained while admitting the difficulty to get things going in this regard.

However, he is very confident that residents will realise the importance of taking good care of animals. Mr Boxall has personally adopted a stray dog and the council mascot is a white cat that was left abandoned behind the office doors.

"It is not the first time that we found kittens and puppies abandoned near the council offices," he admitted.

The council has never turned away the four-legged orphans that it finds and when they are eventually given to people they make sure that the animals end up in good hands.

In fact, Mr Boxall believes that people abandon their animals near the office because the council is known to care about animals.

Interestingly enough, only eight years ago the local council premises was an abandoned building overtaken by squatters.

"The place was used by ruthless people for dog fighting," he explained. "There used to be a dog tied to a chain at the top of the steps and when somebody ventured in, it used to race down to chase away the unsuspecting individual."

Mr Boxall strongly believes that people who abuse animals should be punished accordingly. Nonetheless he put forward the pertinent question: "Who will see that the law is enforced?"

He suggested that local councils and wardens could help in this matter, even if education might be the most effective tool to achieve the best results.

One of the biggest problems Birgu council is facing is dog litter in the streets.

"Birgu is one of the cleanest towns in Malta," he stressed. "We have achieved this with the full co-operation of the residents. However when it comes to dog litter we do have a major problem."

The mayor said that tour operators have commented negatively about the dog litter in the streets.

"This can undo what the council has been striving to achieve since its inception," he said. "We are not against people owning pets, but owners have to realise that their dogs cannot be allowed to dirty in public places."

The council is currently working on a project to identify a number of areas where dog litter bays can be created.

Mr Boxall explained that he saw the system at work in Amsterdam and thinks it is a good solution for Birgu.

"In this way, people can still walk their dogs in the streets but they will have designated sandy areas where the dogs can relieve themselves," he said.

The mayor expressed his confidence that the residents will co-operate on the matter. He pointed out that only recently, he saw a resident scoop up the litter of his own dog while walking in the street.

"This is a positive development," he remarked. "But it must go hand in hand with educating people in an ongoing way."

Ever since its inception, the local council has not yet enacted by-laws, but a by-law concerning this aspect of animal welfare may soon be in the offing.

This is certainly one council that is doing its fair share to raise awareness about animals.

MaltaToday joins Mr Boxall in his appeal to other local councils to adopt a similar approach towards animal welfare.