Man charged with string of Gozo thefts had appeared in pit bull reunion video uploaded by junior minister

Police charged two people on Monday with an eye-watering series of thefts, mostly in Gozo, carried out over a span of 11 days.

Andreas Buhagiar, 30, from Qormi and Donna Pace, 32, from Siġġiewi pleaded not guilty when they appeared in front of Magistrate Simone Grech at the Gozo courthouse. They were remanded in custody.

The arraignment brought some relieve to Gozitan residents tormented by the series of thefts that happened between 30 September and 11 October.

But Buhagiar’s name also raised eyebrows among animal rights activists, who recognised him as the owner of a pit bull dog that had gone missing earlier this year.

In April, Buhagiar appeared in a tearful video in which he spoke about being reunited with his pit bull, Blue, after it was confiscated by Animal Welfare officials from an Msida house.

The video uploaded to Facebook by Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said portrayed Buhagiar talking about his emotional reunion with Blue. Buhagiar had claimed the dog went missing from his farmhouse. It was found at an Msida house belonging to breeder Andre Galea.

Galea was mauled by his own dogs in the street in April and had to be hospitalised. The dogs had killed Galea’s grandmother in a separate incident in 2020 and the breeder is facing charges of involuntary homicide.

Following the April incident, Animal Welfare officers entered Galea’s house and confiscated several pit bulls that he kept inside and on the roof. Blue was one of the dogs taken in at the animal welfare compound.

Sources with knowledge of the case told MaltaToday that animal rights activists had at the time put pressure on the authorities not to hand over the pitbull to Buhagiar when his video went public.

“The dog was never handed back to him but the latest developments prove activists were right to pressure the authorities despite the minister’s misguided video,” the sources said.

Blue remains at the animal welfare compound.

On Monday, Buhagiar and his partner were charged with 14 thefts, including two cars from Qormi and Mellieħa, and three motorbikes in Gozo. They were also charged with stealing from kiosks in Gozo and the burglary of an electronics outlet in Victoria.

Buhagiar alone was accused of driving stolen cars without a licence and insurance policy, and breaching the conditions of a previous suspended sentence.

The magistrate denied the pair bail with the prosecution saying police investigations into other cases in which they may be involved were ongoing.

The prosecution was led by inspectors Keith Xerri and Bernard Charles Spiteri, aided by lawyer Darlene Grima from the Attorney General’s office.