“Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.” Karen Davison
- Adopting from MSPCA gives you the peace of mind that your animal comes ready vaccinated, microchipped, neutered and checked by a vet.
- Adopting from MSPCA also means you have our team to support you through the process and will guide you to make sure we can find the perfect match for you.
- Send us a Facebook message to make an appointment today and complete an adoption interview form so our staff can start match making.
- If you cannot adopt, you might want to consider sponsoring a dog or cat.
PLEASE CLICK ON THE PHOTOS BELOW TO VIEW ANIMAL PROFILES.
Dogs for Adoption – CLICK HERE
Cats for adoption – CLICK HERE
Important info regarding animals in our care.
1. Quarantine
Within the site, we quarantine all incoming animals, this is to protect both them and our animals already on site. Since 2017 when we made some internal changes to the site and ceased offering animal boarding, we now have several distinct quarantine areas for both dogs and cats where new animals can be isolated away from our existing population. Importantly, new animals are also isolated from other new animals (rather than having one quarantine section for animals from all sources). Additionally, having a good tidy-up and move-round meant we could examine animals in a vet-room rather than in unsuitable locations.
2. Medical attention
On arrival, all animals see a vet. We schedule our intake so that animals are admitted on the day of, or a day before, our routine vet visit. Any that haven’t been vaccinated get this done, and all are flea and worm treated. Neutering, chipping, and selective FIV / FeLV testing for cats will then be carried out over the next few days and weeks.
3. Integration
After animals have spent some time in quarantine they will then move into our rehoming accommodation. Although Maltese Law allows for up to 5 dogs to be kept together per enclosure in a sanctuary, and up to 12 cats, we prefer to follow industry standards from countries with better animal welfare practices. Dogs are kept as ones or twos and cats will normally stay in the single, pair or small group they came to us. We don’t mix random cats from different sources. Understanding that cats are a solitary species who get very stressed by having to share accommodation with unfamiliar cats, we do not group house. Occasionally if we have 3 or 4 animals from the same house then we will keep them housed together if there is an obvious social bond between them.
4. Cleaning
All dog units are cleaned daily. In the case of cats, we spot clean-certain areas as needed and rotate cleaning and bedding in each unit, because the sense of smell is really important to cats who can become upset if their continual marking scents (done with the side of their face) are cleaned off. In both our dog and cat areas, we use a specialist animal disinfectant. We use bleach only in non-animal areas and infrequently in animal areas as an extra measure occasionally. Bleach exposure is known to cause considerable impairment to a dog’s ability to smell, while cats find the ammonia smell from bleach uncomfortable as well. When a kennel or cat unit is vacated, we deep-clean and also use an airborne disinfectant.
5. Feeding
All our animals are fed on a consistent diet, of the same brand. Each animal has a written feeding plan and, because we don’t group house, we can be sure they get the right amount of food.
We have stopped mixing-and-matching donated foods and giving all other sorts of random foods! Since then, we find that diarrhoea, sickness and upset tummies have stopped.
6. Exercise
All our dogs are walked every day. Dogs are also rotated around the exercise yard several times a day by staff and have the opportunity to play with toys, and do obedience and other training backed up by treats. In the summer, the treats are frozen which the dogs appreciate in the hot weather.
All our cats are given toys to play with. One particular aspect of this is that cats prefer to have multiple novel toys rather than having a favourite toy. So we will use everyday items like bottle caps, screwed up paper, and feathers.