The dog that is often seen trotting by a hunter’s side has been proven to be the only indigenous hound on the island.
The Kelb tal-Kaċċa ta’ Malta is a pure breed and, although still in its infancy, it is unique to the islands, a study by dog breeder James Galea has found. The study, carried out in collaboration with veterinary surgeon Martin Debattista and the hunters’ federation, included the genetic mapping of 20 dogs and investigation of their body shape and dimensions, known as morphometric measurement.
The research forms part of a programme that aims at getting the tal-Kaċċa breed recognised as pure internationally.
The conclusions were announced yesterday at Buskett, once a hunting reserve.
“The Maltese have always been proud of their cultural heritage and this pride extends to socio-cultural aspects, including hunting and dog breeding,” Dr Galea said.
“Research shows that the first mention of a Maltese hunting dog is in a 1773 legal notice. Known as bandu and issued by Grandmaster Ximenes, it allowed the Kelb tal-Kaċċa ta’ Malta, referred to as the Braque dog, to be used for game hunting.”
Behind Dr Galea as he spoke in Buskett, several hunting dogs, including the more popular Kelb tal-Fenek, were lined up during the yearly Imnarja dog show.
Lucas Micallef, from FKNK, said: “There are two types of hunting dogs in Malta – tal-Fenek and tal-Kaċċa. Unfortunately, tal-Fenek has been incorrectly named and is now internationally recognised as the Pharaoh Hound. “Since we don’t want the same thing to happen to the tal-Kaċċa, the FKNK is striving for official recognition of the dog as a Maltese breed.”
International recognition for the tal-Kaċċa breed would empower Maltese breeders to pursue a more systematic and sensible breeding programme, to avoid body construction defects, Dr Galea added. The first step in obtaining this recognition is to determine whether the breed is sufficiently genetically pure and distinct from other hunting breeds.
“We took samples from 20 dogs and submitted them to an international genetic lab. The conclusions show that tal-Kaċċa breed is genetically unique and separate from the other hunting breeds. They also show that the breed is genetically coherent,” Dr Debattista said.
The second part of the study involved morphometric measurements of these 20 dogs so that a standard could be established.
“In this study we found homogeneity of morphometric variances, meaning it reinforced the conclusion that the tal-Kaċċa breed is pure and unique.”
For Dr Debattista, this is only the beginning of a long process. More studies will now be carried out in the coming two years to gain pedigree recognition for the tal-Kaċċa, of which there are at least 100 dogs in Malta.