Cats of Malta

Arts & Culture

The story told to me by a local policeman is that an elderly lady started feeding the stray cats...

In Malta you will be struck by the lack of starving cats on the streets that you unfortunately see in many other countries. Most of the stray cats here in Malta are looked after not by one owner but by the whole community. These colonies of stray cats can be found all over the island, at the University, in residential areas and parks.

Cats in Malta

One such place is in St Julian’s, here you will see an array of beautiful apartments and next to these apartments is a cat village.

The story told to me by a local policeman is that an elderly lady started feeding the local stray cats in her area, every day she would place food away from her house for the animals, when the rain came she started making shelters, donating old blankets and soft toys making sure that the cats had there vaccinations and where neutered. With time the area grew to an almost unsightly cat village.  When developers came to build new apartment blocks in the area, they wanted to remove the cat village. This outraged the whole community, with many protecting the stray cats and their village against the land developers. Today the cat village still stands. At the entrance you will find a donation box and a sign saying that the cats are all neutered and fed daily by Roza.

Cats in Malta

This story for me captivates the nature of the local people of Malta, It’s wonderful to see people sharing their lunches and lining card board boxes with blankets for the cats. The community’s effort ensures that the stray cats of Malta are happy, healthy and well fed. 

Cats in Malta
 
There are many organisations set up in Malta to look after stray cats such as PAWS Malta, Stray Animal Support Group (SASG) and Animal Care Malta to name a few. While at local Clinics private veterinarians contribute towards the costs of neutering, along with individual and fundraising groups.
Cats in Malta