Do you know the helpline number in case of a stray animal in

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1 Title: Do you know the helpline number in case of a stray animal in distress? Category: years Group members: Justine Borg Carbott (13 th August 2004) Martina Camilleri (11 th October 2004) Michaela Camillieri (8 th January 2004) Nicole Said (31 st October 2004). School: St Francis Secondary School, Sliema Link Teacher: Ms Vanessa Cachia 1

2 Abstract Research carried out by: Borg Carbott Justine, Camilleri Martina, Camilleri Michaela, Said Nicole Title: Animal Care: Strays in Malta Aim: To investigate the problem of stray cats in Malta, how people treat their pets and how they end up running around in the streets. This study investigates the problems caused by having cats running around in the streets of Malta and is based on 100 questionnaires distributed to a representative sample of the local population. This study is motivated by the fact that the problem of strays in Malta is increasing and people should be more aware about cat neutering since this is the first step in dealing with the growing number of stray cats. 2

3 Do you know the helpline number in case of a stray animal in distress? By: Borg Carbott Justine, Camilleri Martina, Camilleri Michaela, Said Nicole, We all love animals and hate to see them suffer, so during the first discussions, we, as a group, agreed that our research should tackle an issue that we all care about, hoping that thanks to the results of our survey, we would be able to make a difference. Having chosen our subject, animals, we talked about certain issues relevant to Maltese society, including stray animals, the financial situation of animal sanctuaries, animal cemeteries and pet cremation. After considering these issues, we decided to focus on the situation of stray animals in the Maltese streets, because there are too many strays in unhealthy and bad living conditions. Together we decided to carry out this research and see what other people think about this issue. According to islandofcats.com there are around 300,000 stray cats running around in Malta. One of the main reasons for this, is that people keep feeding them and their population is always increasing. The people who do this might think of it as helpful, but a well-fed cat is more likely to produce healthy kittens, though now stray animals are being neutered in order to decrease the amount of offspring. We gave out 100 questionnaires to 100 people who live in different towns around Malta to determine their point of view as regards this problem. Are stray animals a problem in Malta? As shown in figure 1, 85% of our respondents believe that in Malta there is a problem regarding stray animals. 3

4 Figure 1: Strays are unfortunately a norm in Malta but this problem can be reduced if less people abandon their pets, and with the help of animal shelters. Animal shelters do help with this problem, although some of them are overcrowded and do not have the funding they need. This might be why some of our respondents suggested raising awareness among Maltese citizens so that they will be more cautious when getting a pet. They also recommended that educational talks should be held in schools (52%) and television programmes (35%). The result also shows that people think that fund raising events in aid of animal shelters should be held more often. A suggestion that definitely caught our attention during the filtering of the results was that a person recommended that a pet rescue reality show programme should be shown on Maltese Television. This is a great idea because in other countries such as the United States of America, this is done and it is very beneficial as, apart from the awareness aspect, such programmes earn a substantial amount of money to help animal sanctuaries. This could be something new for Maltese viewers which could have positive results. 4

5 Would you know whom to call if you saw stray/abandoned animals? We were surprised to find out that 32% of our respondents, as shown in figure 2, do not know the helpline number ( / ) in case of a stray in distress. Figure 2: This contrasts sharply with the answer to the next question since 71% of respondents said that they would call an animal rescue organisation if they saw stray/ abandoned animals. How can they call if most of them do not know the number? Once more, more awareness should be raised about the helpline number, and different animal sanctuaries, since many citizens want to help but do not know how. As part of this study we interviewed a Maltese citizen who takes care of stray cats in her street. She has mixed feelings about whether stray cats are a problem or not, as cats are animals of prey and hunt rats so in this way the sanitary conditions are improved since pests, like, for instance, rats are part of their diet and they help keep the rodent population under control. She stated: 5

6 I think there are fewer stray cats in Malta than there were a few years ago. However, it is a pity when someone kicks out a pet because they cannot afford to keep it. When asked what she would do in the case of a pregnant cat in her street, she answered that she would take her in and help her during the birth process and then she would try to find good homes for the kittens with other people. To conclude, this issue is very important for us and we hope it may to be solved. We also have our own suggestions, foremost of which is to raise more awareness about animal care by videos on social media as today they are more popular than television, and other media. Education is also very important from a young age, so that children are not afraid of animals but love them instead and know how to care for them as they deserve. 6

7 Animal Care A study carried out by Justine Borg Carbott, Martina Camilleri, Michaela Camilleri and Nicole Said Dear Respondent, We are a group of students at St Francis Secondary School, Sliema, and we were assigned a project related to an aspect of Sustainable Development. We chose to investigate Animal Care. To help us in this study we are distributing a number of questionnaires. It will be greatly appreciated if you would kindly fill in this questionnaire. It will only take a few minutes. All data will be anonymous, so there s no need to write your name anywhere on the questionnaire. Thank you for your cooperation, Justine Borg Carbott, Martina Camilleri, Michaela Camilleri and Nicole Said 7

8 Please answer the following questions: 1. Sex: Female Male 2. Age: a. Are stray animals a problem in Malta? Yes No I don t know 3b. If yes, why? They leave a mess behind them Because of allergies They spread diseases I am scared of animals They attract mice and rats 8

9 Animals suffer when they have no home Other: 4a. Do you feed stray animals? Yes No 4b. If yes, why? Animals do not deserve to go hungry You like animals Other: 4c. If no, why? Because it s against the law If you feed them they will keep coming If they survive they will keep having babies which will also be stray Other: 5a. Would you take care of abandoned kittens/puppies? Yes No 5b. If yes, why? It s hard for you to see them abandoned You like cats/dogs You want to adopt a cat/dog 9

10 Other: 5c. If not, why? They are probably sick You d rather buy a pet with a pedigree I don t like animals Other: 6. Do you think Malta would be cleaner without stray cats? Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree 7. Do you think that animal shelters are overcrowded? Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree 8. Do you think that animal shelters have all the funding they need? Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree 9. Would you know whom to call if you saw stray/abandoned animals near your house? Yes No 10a. Would you call an animal rescue organisation if you saw stray/abandoned animals Yes near your house? 10

11 No I don t know 10b. Why? 11. Where do you live? (needed for the following question) 12. How often do you see stray cats in your town? Often Regularly Rarely Never 13. Do you think that we need to reduce the number of stray cats/dogs? Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree 14. Would you like to adopt a stray animal? Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree 15. Do you agree that stray animals should be neutered? Yes No 11

12 16. What can be done to raise awareness about this issue? Thank you for your cooperation to fill in this questionnaire Justine Borg Carbott, Martina Camilleri, Michaela Camilleri and Nicole Said 12