World Animal Day: Get To Know Some Of The Helping Hands That Protect Our Island’s Wildlife
Everyone loves animals, at least to some extent, be it a common cat or dog, or maybe your interests lie in the unusual like insects or reptiles. World Animal Day is a day to celebrate all things fuzzy, crawly, scaley and overall lovable.
In the spirit of the occasion let’s shine a light on some of the well-known, and also some unsung heroes that help out our country’s little critters.
- Malta Society For The Protection And Care Of Animals (MSPCA)
The MSPCA boasts over 120 years of animal protection, with humble beginnings as a branch of the RSPCA back in 1900 tasked with the wellness of local stray dogs and cats. Through the years MSPCA have taken in and cared for many furry friends, with well over 100 animals last year alone, 85 of which had been successfully rehomed.
- Birdlife Malta
The oldest avian protection/environmental organisation, kicking off in 1962, BirdLife has since managed a number of nature reserves nationwide aimed at caring for birdlife and their habitats. Its environmental advocacy has brought forward many community engagement projects to help raise awareness and combat illegal poaching and nature preservation. The organisation also often hosts educational programmes to help connect children with nature, perhaps you remember going to one of their reserves on a school outing?
- Sunshine Animal Sanctuary
From rabbits to pigs, this Marsascala based farm animal sanctuary offers rehabilitation for some of your more unusual strays, including pigs, lambs, chickens, ducks and plenty of rabbits. The organisation receives calls to help animals in need constantly, always on the go to capture, rehabilitate and rehome any animals spotted around the islands. Unfortunately, the small organisation was faced with the risk of relocation for the past three years and have since reached out for help from the public to find new location for its business or to provide the animals with new homes as fears of closure remain on the horizon.
- Nature Trust
One of the largest environmental NGOs in the country, Nature Trust currently hosts eight nature parks that help preserve the flora and fauna of the selected areas. It’s also mainly known for forming the Wildlife Rescue Team, a group of volunteers specially trained to handle animal rescue and protection. Its initiatives throughout the years made constant headlines, notably for helping with multiple turtle protection programmes and releases. Its connections around the island also allowed them to open a Wildlife rehabilitation centre in Xrobb l-Għaġin, which helps with the wellness of turtles, bats and even sweet little Winston the weasel, who was released last month.
- RMJ Horse Rescue
One of the newer wildlife protection organisations, RMJ was established just eight years ago in 2016. Starting out as a one-person job by Corinne Farrugia, her efforts to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome horses soon spread and more people banded together to join the cause. RMJ is the home to over 80 horses, while most are found abandoned or neglected, most are ex-racehorses taken in by the organisation due to the risk of slaughter once they’re replaced.
What spirit animal are you connecting with this World Animal Day?
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