Cat Feeders Face €50 Fines If They Don’t Register Colonies With Local Council
Cat feeders in Malta are now subject to new regulations and face fines of €50 for non-compliance.
A new legal notice stipulates that feeding stray cats in public areas is prohibited unless the feeder is registered with their respective local council. Feeders must provide detailed information about their colonies to the local council, including GPS coordinates of feeding areas, the number of cats in each colony, the number of neutered cats, and, if available, their microchip details.
Feeders are also responsible for ensuring that the cats in their colonies are healthy and free from disease. They must make every effort to have the cats neutered and must immediately inform the Director of Animal Welfare if they suspect a cat is sick or there is a disease outbreak.
Local councils are required to send an updated copy of the cat feeding registers to Animal Welfare twice a year.
Shadow Animal Rights Minister Janice Chetcuti has strongly criticised this law, arguing that no previous government has been so detached from animals and animal welfare.
“How is this love for animals?” Chetcuti questioned. “I and many others encourage people to place water and food bowls out to feed stray cats, with prudence and respect for everyone. However, the government has issued a law specifying that you will be fined €50 if you’re caught feeding a cat without being registered as a feeder.”
“You will also be fined if you feed a cat that isn’t in your designated feeding zone. The government wants us to ignore these cats or risk a €50 fine. What kind of values are we imparting to our children? They constantly take us for a ride; first, they issue a scheme to help feeders, but then they introduce these fines. We have never had a government so distant from animals and animal welfare; we have regressed 100 years.”
The new regulations come following the announcement of a new Cat Feeders Scheme, which will actually see registered cat feeders being given €50 vouchers.
Introduced by the Animal Welfare Directorate (AWD) within the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights (MAFA), the Call for Expression of Interest (EOI) was aimed at animal feed retailers to participate in the new initiative supporting registered cat feeders.
Do you agree with these new rules?
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