Huskies 'belong to colder climes'

Huskies and other dogs meant to live in colder climates should not be brought to Malta unless their owners have the money and facilities to give them a comfortable life, according to the director of the Animal Welfare Department, Mario Spiteri.

He said there needed to be a set of regulations governing to import such dogs.

"There are people who have spacious, air-conditioned basements where they can keep them, so that is ok. But not everyone can afford that. Most of the time the dogs are kept in the sun on the roofs of houses," he said.

Such dogs have lots of fur to keep them warm in the colder, northern climates, so when they are stuck in the Maltese summer they "suffer great discomfort".

"They don't become aggressive if it's not in their nature to do so but obviously they do not like it," Dr Spiteri said.

He explained that grooming the dogs by shaving their fur helped but in many cases this was not enough, especially if the dogs were exposed to the sun for too long.

"These dogs are becoming more and more popular. People import them because they like the way they look. But then they get fed up of them and we have to deal with the after-effects."

One such after-effect happened a few days ago when a young husky was found abandoned down a Żurrieq cliff face with a 30-foot rope tied around its neck.

Noah's Ark, which rescued the dog and called him Cliff, this week flew it to Germany where the climate will be more suitable.

Spokesman Fabio Ciappara said they had received 82 calls from the public to adopt the dog but the organisation decided to use the incident to send the message that such dogs should not be kept in Malta.