A dog is not just for Christmas…

Just a month after the launch of SPCA’s ‘Sponsor a cat or dog’ campaign, another event will be held by the association in an attempt to inspire more people to sponsor animals within the homing centre.

“There was a huge boom of sponsors following the coverage of the initial launch and after Minister George Pullicino’s visit last December we did have 50 new sponsors join, which was good but we haven’t seen too many new sponsors this month,” SPCA fundraising assistant Kaia-Leena Lass said.

Lass said that the SPCA is constantly in search for new sponsors to join to keep the animals and anyone deciding to sponsor a dog or a cat will become an SPCA member and be entitled to a 10% discount on all items in the shop this Sunday.

“The Paws 4 A Cause Charity Shop in Sliema will be open for a full day on Sunday 29 January. Funds from items sold will all go towards keeping the SPCA animals and funding for the new centre to be built at Ta'Qali,” Lass said.

For just €1 a week or €52 a year, anyone can sponsor one of the dogs in the shelter and will be able to come and visit them any time they want 

During his visit in December, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino had said he intended to “entice fellow ministers by sending a message for them to sponsor a dog or a cat. I have no doubt that they will do so”.

MaltaToday asked SPCA Home Manager Miriam Casha whether other politicians, apart from Pullicino, had joined the cause and sponsored a dog.

“No politicians became sponsors after Pullicino’s visit. Ministers Mario de Marco and Chris Said as well as Parliamentary Secretary of Youth and Sport Clyde Puli were already sponsors. They actually started sponsoring a dog before Pullicino,” Casha said.

Casha said walking the dogs would require getting to know them first.

“Sponsors would be able to come and walk the dogs but they would initially have to come at least three times and get to know the dogs before we feel the person is responsible enough to walk them,” Casha said.

Casha explained that dog walkers need to know the dogs because any noises could scare the animals and these noises need to be identified.

The small amount of €1 a week could greatly help the shelter in Floriana which is currently home to145 dogs and can have anywhere between 30 and 70 cats and kittens at any time.

“One thing we want to emphasise is that we are no kill shelter. We never kill our animals, which means there are a number of animals who have been with us for a very long time because we have been unable to home them,” Lass said.

Casha added that it was not the first time that a rumour was spread on social networking sites such as Facebook that animals were being killed when they were healthy.

“It’s threatening and blackmailing. We have had dogs like Kiki for eight years and Strega for seven. Unfortunately, because we keep them all and can’t find homes for some, we have to refuse taking in many dogs and cats,” Casha said.

The home manager explained that the SPCA had to evaluate each situation carefully before taking more animals due to overcrowding.

“We don’t want to overcrowd because it would be too stressful on the dogs and cats. It would be ideal if we could home all the animals to be able to shelter more which need our help but sponsoring,” Casha said.

Casha also said that the events being held by SPCA was also to encourage people to home the dogs and cats but didn’t want photos of the animals behind bars plastered everywhere.

“I hate photos of dogs behind bars! I don’t want to end up homing a dog because someone feels sorry for it but rather because they fall in love with the dog,” Casha said.

The Paws 4 A Cause Charity Shop in Sliema (25, Gorg Borg Olivier Str. SLIEMA) will be open from 09:30 until 17:30 for anyone wishing to sponsor an SPCA animal or pick up a bargain.

The SPCA can be contacted on 7982 3956, or 2123 0468, [email protected]. More information can also be found on www.spcamalta.org