[WATCH] Zookeeper’s mad rant against animal welfare czar: ‘Speak out against zoos and it will be your undoing’

Zookeeper’s mad rant against animal welfare czar: ‘Speak out against zoos and it will be your undoing’

Updated at 3:20 pm with animal welfare commissioner reaction

Firebrand zookeeper Anton Cutajar has launched a scathing attack on the newly-appointed animal welfare commissioner Alison Bezzina, claiming he will oust her from her political post if she makes a move against his zoo.

Cutajar, whose anti-immigration rants on social media led him to picket a Black Lives Matter protest, has turned his sights on Bezzina, an animal rights activist placed in the statutory role of animal welfare commissioner.

“I am telling you right here, if you keep it up, I will send letters to who I need to send them, and your time as commissioner will be up,” Cutajar said in a Facebook livestream.

The Arka ta’ Noe owner was reacting to comments by Bezzina who stated that zoos were “not ideal” but that she would treat the situation as it stands and promote other forms of legislation. Her comments came as a public consultation on proposed new rules for zoos closed on Monday, with government backtracking on its ban on animal petting, one of Cutajar’s main attractions.

Cutajar launched a scathing 30-minute attack in which he called out Bezzina, and other favourite targets of his – the Nationalist Party, civil society NGOs, the press, and even his beloved Labour government for appointing Bezzina. “You do not care about animals, you only want to remove zoos, you only want to pick on Anton Cutajar,” he said.

READ ALSO | Zoo regulations U-turn: Draft rules changed after 24 hours to allow petting of wild animals

He even threatened Bezzina that she would be removed from her position if she spoke out against zoos. “If you keep going down this path, rest assured it will be your undoing,” he said.

Cutajar claimed Bezzina’s comments, although not mentioning him, were part of an agenda against him. “The more you hit out at me, the more I’m strengthened because I’m a Mintoffjan,” he said, saying he would even run for politics if need be.

“Rest assured if I had the time, I would get into politics, and I would get the most votes,” he said. “But that my party elects a commissioner like this, who hails from the opposing clan and you attack us like this... that is unacceptable.”

He attacked Bezzina as a ‘Times blogger’ who had “suddenly become an expert in animals”, although it is unclear what qualifications Cutajar has on animal biology or handling. “I have nothing against Nationalists, but to hit out at me because I’m from the opposing party? I know why, it’s because I have a different DNA then you. Had I had the same DNA, you would put me on a pedestal,” he said.

Alison Bezzina reacts 

Reacting to Cutajar’s rant, Alison Bezzina took to Facebook to thank people for their support.

“Don’t misinterpret my silence for inaction or withdrawal.  Animal Welfare will always come first,” she wrote.

The Opposition leader Bernard Grech also expressed solidarity with the animal commissioner, calling on the prime minister to disassociate himself from Cutajar’s comments.

“Nobody should feel as if they are above the law. This is a civilized country,” he said.

READ ALSO: Tigers, pythons, lizards, brown bears and all the wild animals kept in captivity in Malta