Stray Cats Looked After By Paulina Dembska Will Be Taken Care Of Under New Initiative
Stray cats looked after by murder victim Paulina Dembska in Sliema’s Independence Gardens will be looked after under a new initiative by Animal activists RAR (Real Animal Rights).
The project will see the cats Paulina Dembska used to feed on a regular basis, taken care of. The foundation’s primary role is providing better living conditions to animals by way of acquiring food, medicine, and by improving their shelters.
The group is also working towards building a memorial statue for murder victim Paulina Dembska within Sliema’s Independence Gardens.
The initiative is also working towards the construction of a memorial statue of Paulina Dembska placed on site.
Dembska was raped and murdered on 2nd January 2022. The main suspect, Abner Aquilina, will be charged this evening. It is presumed that the tragic incident took place whilst she was feeding the cats in the gardens.
“We would like to immortalise her kindness and love for this stray cat community,” said the RAR in their fundraising appeal on 3rd January 2022.
“It stands for what humanity should be like. It ticks all of the right boxes,” writes Romina Frendo, who serves as secretary to the RAR, to Lovin Malta.
Plans towards the development of the statue have even garnered the interest of a sponsor – the V&C group, who now stand behind the foundation.
The proposed outline for the statue would be a humble likeness of Dembska petting a cat on one of the benches in Independence Gardens, Sliema. Just like the one featured in the picture below.
“It is important for us not to remember this place for the tragedy that took place there, but for the display of kindness and humanity Dembska had applied there throughout her life.”
The statue would also be made to face the sea. Sources close to Dembska had remarked that she loved the sea, but Frendo shed light on another reason why this was important:
“By facing the sea, Dembska would be turning her back to the brutal incident which saw her killed.”
“She was so close to people, so in everyone’s face. Yet no one saw, nor heard in the darkness, that fateful morning.”
A student, a friend, a daughter, and an animal lover. Her caring nature even garnered the attention of the Sliema local council, who paid tribute to Dembska with a photo of her feeding stray cats in Sliema.
“Paulina Dembska loved cats and she was dedicated to feeding and playing with them in the same place she was brutally murdered,” wrote the Sliema Local Council.
Plans are in the pipeline to incorporate the poetic elements within the proposed mural.
It’s still early days, with the local council still in discussions as to whether to sanction this operation.
“This bench in Independence Gardens [are] missing someone,” writes Romina Frendo.
This is an idea we can all get behind.