Guinea Pigs Abandoned Near Gozo Pond Rescued

Jan 5 2024

A Facebook user took to social media to call out an anonymous guinea pig owner (or owners) who decided to abandon a number of guinea pigs in Gozo’s Għadira San Rafflu.

Morgan explained that she and two others spent the last few days catching the abandoned animals, managing to rescue 7 but spotting others unfortunately killed by dogs.

Saying that they are safe and set to be re-homed, they were very difficult to catch due to them extremely stressed.

‘It takes a lot of time and effort, and we shouldn’t have to do it. If you have an inmate that you can no longer keep, a simple Facebook post in a few local animal loving groups and you would be surprised how easy it is to find new homes’, they urged.

Guinea pigs are not native wild animals in Malta and, the user said, ‘it is extremely irresponsible to let them loose in the wild, especially as they breed like crazy.’

#MaltaDaily

Art Teacher Convicted Of Abusing Student Has Warrant Withdrawn

Jan 4 2024

Carmel Agius, an art teacher from Fgura, convicted of sexually abusing a 12-year-old student during art lessons in 2018, has been banned from the teaching profession.

Agius, jailed in February last year for groping at least one pupil, appealed the verdict, but his appeal was rejected, confirming a two-year jail sentence.

Education Minister Clifton Grima withdrew Agius’s teaching warrant, placing him on the sex offenders register.

The court, while rejecting a publication ban on Agius’s name, prohibited the disclosure of the state school and the victim’s identity. The victim, testifying before Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, recounted the abuse during a canvas project, revealing Agius’s inappropriate touching.

The mother filed a police report, leading to an investigation that involved over 50 of Agius’s art school students. Agius faces separate criminal proceedings for incidents at his private art studio, and Police Inspector John Spiteri is prosecuting the case.

#MaltaDaily

Man Spotted Swimming In Balluta Naked

Jan 4 2024

Photos sent to this newsroom shows an individual bathing in Balluta indecently and completely naked.

The identity of the man is unknown and has been concealed due to privacy reasons.

#MaltaDaily

New Local Record Of 114 Domino Shots On Popolin

Jan 4 2024

On a special episode of Popolin, focused on national records, James Aquilina managed to break a national record of 114 domino shots.

Present for the record were Sir Jeffrey Saliba and Sir Antonio Montebello, who confirmed the record achievement and to discuss their mission to establish local records with Popolin host Quinton Scerri.

The record saw 114 shots of different coloured liquids fall into glasses and setting the local bar for this particular achievement.

#MaltaDaily