Life has come to a standstill in Malta as a result of COVID-19 coronavirus and some are paying the price more than others.

MSPCA, one of Malta’s many animal sanctuaries, has been hit hard by the outbreak of the virus and subsequent partial lockdown and the NGO has absolutely no idea what the future holds for them.

“It’s still unclear whether the incentives announced last week by the government will benefit us NGOs,” said MSPCA Outreach Manager Christian Pace.

“We’re experiencing a big question mark on how long we are going to have to wait until we know what’s going on.”

All non-essential retail and services stores were told to close as of this morning as a measure to contain the local spread of COVID-19. While animal sanctuaries still remain open, the decision to close all non-essential stores has greatly impacted businesses in more ways than one.

“Our funding depends on charity shops and at a moment they’re at a standstill,” Christian said.

“We have something saved up for a rainy day, but they told us that it’s going to be like this for months and we don’t have the finance to keep going for that long.”

Given the nature of their work, the staff at MSPCA don’t have the luxury of working from home and must risk their health and safety to report into work and take care of the sheltered animals.

“We are trying to stay open at the risk of being infected by the public. We’ve split up the team in the rehoming centre so as to reduce the chances of coronavirus spreading and having everyone go into quarantine.”

“The staff are very dedicated and would often offer to buy special things for the animals if they need them but if we take a pay cut we aren’t going to be able to afford ourselves let alone them.”

As it stands, MSPCA feels like it has been left in the dark but that won’t stop them from going out of their way to take care of their furry family.

“Our income has stopped but our mission has to continue. We hope that, when charity shops do open again, people go shop there and help support us,” Christian ended.

Donations to MSPCA can also be made through their website here.