Animal therapy at St Vincent de Paul

Video is unavailable at this time.

Residents at the St Vincent de Paul Residence in Luqa will now be able to enjoy animal therapy as an aide to combat solitude, boredom and emotional distress.

A cat café complex – including two cat rooms, therapy room, kitten litter room and offices – was inaugurated on Wednesday by Justyne Caruana, Parliamentary Secretary for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing, and Roderick Galdes, Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights.

The complex, developed in collaboration with Animal Guardians, will be offering professional therapeutic services. Animal therapy sessions will be led by therapist Suzanne Portelli Demajo.

Caruana said it was scientifically proven that animal therapy delivered great results and said the new cat café would be a sanctuary for many of the residents.

“This is a very ambitious programme that ties in with the government and the administration’s plan to rebrand the residence,” she said.

Pet therapy had already been introduced within SVPR, albeit on a smaller scale: there was a dog in one of the halls, and birds and fish in other halls.

“Cats are very popular and have also proven to be great for animal therapy. We believe this café and the professional services it will be offering, will greatly improve the quality of life for SVPR residents.”

Galdes said the idea for the cat café came up following the arguments last year between the administration and a number of cat feeders.

He said he had tasked Animal Welfare Commissioner Manuel Buhagiar with a fact-finding mission aimed at solving the impasse, while safeguarding animal welfare.

“Out of that challenge, we created this opportunity and we remain committed to ensure that NGOs have the means to keep on functioning and to carry out their work efficiently.”