Controversial zoo owner's €25,000 fine confirmed on appeal

Zoo owner Anton Cutajar has lost an appeal aimed at reducing a €25,000 fine he was issued after a tiger cub from his zoo was found roaming the streets.

Cutajar is the owner of the illegally-built Arka Ta' Noe zoo in Siġġiewi which was later sanctioned by the Planinng Authority. In 2022, he was found guilty and fined €25,000 after one of his tiger cubs was found roaming the streets in Siġġiewi.

He had said that on the day, a zoo volunteer was responsible for taking care of the cub. The court had heard that the cub was found in a cage that was too small for its size, as well as the fact that its drinking water was dirty.

The court stated that the fine issued was in accordance to law and so was not excessive. Cutajar was ordered to pay €694 a month so that he may pay the fine within three years.

In a series of Facebook posts, Cutajar lambasted the court decision. "We say that we want to help everyone! Where is this help?"

Cutajar came into the limelight in 2020, after he lambasted a proposed set of rules that would ban the petting of wild cats and animals.

The rules effectively cut into Cutajar’s business by making illegal the touching of wild animals by visitors; making the breeding of wild animals illegal, unless exempted by the directorate for veterinary regulation, and then only for conservation and scientific purposes.

This prompted government to change the proposed regulation only one day later to permit the petting of wild animals, where it was subject to public consultation.

The regulations are yet to see the light of day.