The last pet sanctuary accepting pitbulls has closed its doors to the breed, saying it no longer has the resources to look after the increasing numbers being abandoned.
Noah’s Ark co-founder Fabio Ciappara said pitbulls and their related breeds are proving impossible to adopt and need to be walked and housed separately from other dogs.
The lack of a sanctuary has led to warnings that the breed could be left to roam the streets and that Malta might have to open kill shelters to address the problem.
Noah’s Ark currently has 12 Pitbull American Staffordshire Terriers waiting to be adopted, “and they will wait there till they die (naturally),” Ciappara said.
Three have been there for 12 years – roughly the equivalent of 77 human years.
Challenges of caring for pitbulls
“They are a beautiful and loving dog, but they are energetic and boisterous,” Ciappara said as he explained that Noah’s Ark no longer has a place for the species as they take up the sanctuary’s space, time, and resources.
The fact that pitbulls “don’t get along well with other dogs” makes them even harder to manage.
The pitbull amstaff tends to have high rates of homelessness as the breed requires a lot of dedication and time to train, Animal Welfare Commissioner Alison Bezzina said.
“Once they reach adulthood they become very strong dogs,” she explained as many adopt the dog as a puppy but when it grows and becomes stronger and livelier owners struggle to keep up with their pet and look for homes elsewhere.
Its natural athleticism has also led to the breed carrying a negative reputation.
“If not socialised well or if a strong dog misbehaves – as most dogs do sometimes – it can cause serious damage, even if most of the time it’s just through playfulness,” Bezzina said.
She emphasised that many people here live in apartments and without an open space to spend their energy, pitbulls can tear the place apart simply to relieve the boredom.
“There’s a huge market for puppies of this breed but once they hit adulthood people realise that they can’t handle the dogs.”
Their natural strength has also put them on the radar of those “who want to look like bullies,” Bezzina said, further accentuating the perception that the breed is inherently violent.
What lies ahead for the breed?
“It’s unbearable to think of what options they’re faced with,” Bezzina said on the breed’s lack of a sanctuary.
“They will either end up packed in pens for their lives, left on the streets to fend for themselves, forming packs, suffering and causing havoc, or Malta will have to do the unthinkable and introduce kill shelters, like most countries abroad.”
She has previously warned about the prospect of Malta opening kill shelters, where animals are put down if they are not adopted after a certain amount of time.
“Now it seems that we’re closer to this sad reality than ever,” Bezzina said.
The issue stems from the island’s “rampant” breeding of the breed as “it is not controlled”, Bezzina noted.
She explained that the breeding laws are “so lax that it is hard to break.” Breeders do not have to register until they have their fifth litter of the year – each litter can contain up to 12 pups with an average range of five to six.
As the regulation currently stands, it is close to impossible to enforce as even when people do end up breeding their fifth batch of pups they can either lie and say it was their first of the year, or say that the litter was bred by another adult in the same household.
For instance, a house of three adults can effectively breed 12 litters a year without any need for registration and that is only if they abide by the honour system.
Currently, Malta has only two registered breeders which means that, officially, only two breeders on the island have more than four litters a year.
Although Bezzina has brought up the glaring loophole before, her role as commissioner puts her in a position to suggest recommendations without the ability to enforce them.
She has previously suggested tighter controls or a temporary pause on the breeding and importation of pitbulls and pitbull mixes.