Fined €500 for abandoning adopted cat

Romina Delia Guntrip was fined €500 for abandoning a kitten at the Cat Café in Paceville after she failed to justify her actions to Magistrate Carol Peralta.

Marilyn Baldacchino explained how the accused had told her she wanted to adopt a kitten, and that should she change her mind she should return the kitten to Baldacchino. Days later, Baldacchino came to know that the woman had abandoned the cat on Spinola Road, St Julian's.

The Magistrate asked the accused why she had not returned the cat to Baldachino directly, to which Delia Guntrip appeared unable to explain, mentioning only that she thought the van from which her kitten had been given was already full of cages and animals.

Magistrate Peralta insisted that the woman gives him the reason for her actions, to which she answered that her daughter was allergic to the cat and since in the past she had fed the cats at the Cat Café, she decided to leave it there.

The Magistrate found Delia Guntrip guilty of abandonment of animals and fined the accused €500 to be paid within the next three months.