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Kurt Sansone
Freddie Fenech is a household name among animal lovers, who have donated generously to his cause that of caring for abandoned dogs. But the man who regularly appears on the media to raise awareness on animal cruelty has no accounts to show for the Lm14,000 collected last year during a concert aimed at raising funds to settle an outstanding water bill of Lm3,300.
Last year the Water Services Corporation had threatened to close the water supply to Fenech’s dog sanctuary in Marsa if the bill was not settled. MaltaToday can reveal that the corporation eventually followed up on its threat and closed the water supply at the beginning of summer this year, despite the sum collected by his Abandoned Animals Association.
MaltaToday can also reveal that the police have received a number of official complaints on Fenech’s, running of the AAA but there seems to have been little progress in the investigations.
Fenech, a former police officer, had gone public with his appeal for funds last year and popular rock band Winter Moods had offered to organise a concert to raise funds in aid of the Abandoned Animals Association. The concert on 19 October exceeded all expectations as more than Lm14,000 was collected through SMS donations and cash collections during the concert itself. The money collected by SMS was passed on to Fenech by Vodafone and Go Mobile sometime in January this year.
A public relations officer at Water Services Corporation confirmed with this newspaper that “the water supply was suspended at the AAA's premises in Marsa.” No more details were forthcoming from the corporation.
Confronted by this newspaper, Freddie Fenech insisted he paid the pending water bill and is currently in dispute with the WSC over arrears due by the person to whom the water meter actually belongs. “I got my water from somebody else and WSC cut off his supply because of some pending bill. We are in dispute on the situation,” Fenech told MaltaToday.
But sources confirmed to MaltaToday that Fenech only paid a couple of hundreds of pounds of the Lm3,300 bill, which prompted the eventual suspension of the water supply.
When asked by this newspaper whether he kept yearly accounts of all donations received and expenses made, Fenech said he had all the receipts. “If you want to see the accounts, I will go to an auditor and he make them for you,” (Jekk trid tara l-accounts, immur ghand awditur u naghmilhomlok) was Fenech’s reply when MaltaToday insisted it wanted to see the accounts.
“I can prepare the accounts for your eyes only,” Fenech said. “People give me donations and don’t ask for receipts because they trust me. All I do is for the wellbeing of the dogs,” he added.
During the telephone conversation with this newspaper on Friday, Fenech insisted there are a lot of people who do not wish him well and are doing all they can to obstruct the work being done by the AAA to care for hundreds of dogs. “I have almost Lm15,000 a year in expenses to run the sanctuary. These I fund from donations received and out of my pocket,” Fenech said.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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