Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1489031
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 DECEMBER 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications More awareness about parental alienation HAPPY Parenting – Malta (For Happi- er Children) organised our third annual Parental Alienation Awareness Cam- paign across Malta and Gozo. The launch was held on 1 December in the office of Dr Denis Vella Baldac- chino, the Commissioner for Mental Health. In the days following the launching, various entities working or interested in Family Wellbeing have joined the campaign. These included, among others, Grandparents Malta; Gozo Mental Health Association; Immaculate Conception Band Club Hamrun; Prima Med Zurrieq; Libyans in Malta; repre- sentatives of the University of Malta including some of its professional staff, professors and students; archpriests; parish priests, and members of parlia- ment. The awareness campaign came to an end with a grand lunch for the cam- paign participants, Happy Parenting members, parents, children, grandpar- ents, and youths from the NGO's pre- vention section. On each day, one of the 17 main strategies or symptoms that can be present in cases of parental alienation was explained in detail. Parental alienation is not an easy subject. Indeed, more awareness among the general public and training of the various professional categories are required. The family law also needs to be amended. Happy Parenting – Malta (For Happier Children) has made var- ious proposals and keeps insisting on their urgency and for action to be taken. This awareness campaign is being held a few days before Christmas be- cause families and individuals passing through difficult times, including par- ents who are deprived from seeing their children, find it extremely harder and more painful than at other times of the year. We need more help, professional volunteers and others to assist us in various ways. Mary Gauci President, Happy Parenting Malta Cat sanctuary at Ghammieri EXACTLY a few days after our meeting with Minister Anton Refalo, a cat sanc- tuary costing €150,000 was launched inside Għammieri this week. Seriously? Did this cost €150,000 Euro? We are happy about this but we have the following questions: When may the public visit? On which days and times? As far as we know, according to EU Europe for Animals health rules, it is unsanitary for dogs and cats to be kept at Għammieri, because of danger of contamination of the place. How are the many, many stray cat feeders, and fosterers of kittens going to be able to visit this cat sanctuary and see how they may be helped to transfer their kittens over to this sanctuary? Does this mean that the National Animal Sanctuary which was planned in 2017, to be built in Ta' Qali, and for which thousands of Euros were donated monthly by a secret foreign millionaire, was scrapped? Amanda Muscat Animal Guardians Malta