Maltese dogs settling down in snowy Salzburg

The six young dogs flown to Salzburg, Austria on Sunday are settling down at their new temporary home until a permanent home is found for them.

However, initially they weren't sure about the snow as the dogs had lived much of their life in a sanctuary in Luqa.

They danced around like "Lipizaner horses", the white horses of Vienna, as they tried to bite the snow and rolled around on it, the Austrian couple Heinz and Ruth Preiss reported from Austria, yesterday. Mr and Mrs Preiss had come to Malta purposely for the dogs.

On their arrival in Salzburg, the dogs were examined by the local vet and they are now enjoying an area of 2,000 square metres which they only share with another three dogs.

Photos of the dogs will be put on the Gnadenhof's website so that a new home can be found for the dogs. Gnadenhof is a 55,000 square metre animal sanctuary near Salzburg which houses dogs, cats, birds, a zebra, a camel and an anaconda. The complex, which features a number of ponds and a river, usually takes animals into its care that have been maltreated.

Once a new home is found, Mr and Mrs Preiss will make sure the animals are treated well by visiting them every once in a while.

Anyone who wishes to support the Abandoned Animals Association's "Austria project" or who have enquiries about it can get in touch with helper Jutta Wenzel directly on juttawenzel@ yahoo.com.

The connection with Malta started a few months ago when one of the Austrian carers visited the island on holiday and witnessed the plight of stray animals here. On going back home she spoke to the owner of the sanctuary who came to Malta to see if she could help.

Gnadenhof's owner visited the Abandoned Animals Association and made arrangements with Freddie Fenech, who runs the centre, for some of the Maltese dogs to be transferred to Austria.