Malta's Government yesterday announced an ‘adopt a pet allowance scheme’, which includes a €150 grant that will be given to individuals who give animals a loving home from a sanctuaries and shelters, as opposed to purchasing a pet.
While the scheme aims to emphasise the importance of adopting animals though, it was immediately met with criticism on online adoption forums, with animal lovers arguing that it’s kind of defeating the purpose. Their argument? The whole point of adopting an animal means that the action is coming from the good of one’s heart and that someone genuinely wants the animal in their lives, not because they're getting paid to do so!
We spoke to Mark Thorogood, an animal activist, Gozo SPCA volunteer and admin on Facebook group RUBS Puppy Love, who told us how this scheme will realistically affect the sanctuaries. “There’s an expression in English that goes, ‘putting lipstick on a pig,’ meaning it’s a bad idea at its core, so no matter what safeguarding measures are put in place, it’s still a bad policy,” he says, noting that only registered sanctuaries are eligible.
“The money should go to the sanctuaries to help pay for the animals to be chipped, neutered and vaccinated, not to the new owners,” Mark says. While having a new animal in the house may be costly, owners need to prepare for such a change, and let’s face it, €150 isn’t going to do much, but sanctuaries will definitely appreciate and benefit from the donation.
The scheme states that once animals are adopted, they are checked up on during the first six months to ensure that their home, environment and health are adequate. “There is a real concern that the check-up won’t be done - Animal Welfare don’t have the resources. There could easily be 1000 animals a year eligible for this scheme, that’s €150,000 that could be better spent.”
“Checking up on 1000 animals a year in people’s homes is a massive undertaking, and Animal Welfare is already overstretched without this additional burden,” Mark says. We kinda see his point.
What do you think of the new pet scheme?