# Villa Malta Kennels



## maltsmom

I was just visiting that other site, I know, I know, I have been a very bad girl. Once in a while though there is something of interest to me. I very rarely post though. Anyway, somebody started a topic regarding problems with Villa Malta kennel. Of course they locked the topic cause it doesn't fit in with their "image". My pup Jill comes from a long line of Villa Maltas and was wondering if anyone on here knows what this poster may have wanted to warn us







about. Thanks.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom

I've heard of that kennel. I think it is one of the top ones (might be wrong). Maybe they were asking about it to see if it was good.


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## maltsmom

It didn't sound that way. it sounded like there was a problem and she wanted to let everyone know. They are supposed to be one of the best. I was just wondering what the problem was cause I have a pup from the Villa Malta line.


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## Holliberry

http://www.malteseonly.com/news/Oct01/villamalta.html

This is old but I have heard it was a pretty big deal at the time.

I recently found out my last maltese, Holli, came from a pretty long line of these guys. I talked to them when I was looking for Phoebe, but it didnt work out. This was before I had heard this.


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## Char-Luv-4-Maltese

Who is the person that has the Villa Malta Kennel an where is it located?
Teaco


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## charmypoo

Villa Malta Maltese is one of the oldest existing kennels in North America. I beleive it was started during the 1940's Dr. Vincenzo Calvaresi. He passed on the program to Marge Rozik who carried on the kennel for many many years. Many other breeders had their foundation built from Marge Rozik. This included Jennifer Siliski of Hollybelle Maltese (which you may have heard about in the news).

When Marge passed away, the kennel name was passed onto Debbie Palmieri and Debbie Martin. They carry on using the kennel name today and continue to produce champion Maltese. They are located in PA.

Villa Malta has faced a lot of troubles in recent years. Many Villa Malta dogs have lost their registration due to inaccurate book keeping.  My Cookie was one of the ones who lost her registration. Her champion brother also lost his registration (pity).

The history of Maltese is really interesting and you can read about it in many books. One of my favourite is "The Complete Maltese" by Nicholas Cutillo. He talks in great deal about the history of Maltese and many breeding programs (some of which still exist today).


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## Char-Luv-4-Maltese

My reason for asking was the lady in PA that screwed me over an the dogs I bought from her was suppose to be Villa Malta breed I know she talked so much about Marge I guess I have four of the Villa Malta dogs but have no way of proving it since she lied to me on giving me full breeding rights an AKC papers she stole two of my dogs two. Umm I will have to do some more reading up on the Villa Malta then I find this interesting.
Teaco


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## charmypoo

> _Originally posted by Teaco_@Apr 15 2005, 07:40 PM
> *My reason for asking was the lady in PA that screwed me over an the dogs I bought from her was suppose to be Villa Malta breed I know she talked so much about Marge I guess I have four of the Villa Malta dogs but have no way of proving it since she lied to me on giving me full breeding rights an AKC papers she stole two of my dogs two. Umm I will have to do some more reading up on the Villa Malta then I find this interesting.
> Teaco
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=53068*


[/QUOTE]

Teaco,
I will suggest that you get your pups DNAed. If I am correct, the parents will likely have a DNA record with AKC. Many of the Villa Malta dogs and hers have been DNAed by request from AKC. All Frequently Used Studs are required to be DNAed and I am sure hers will be classified as such. Once you DNA your dogs, you can see if they match up to the claimed parents. Another thing to note ... only SOME of her dogs are from Villa Malta lines. I am not sure what else she has been breeding with. Villa Malta did not have such large dogs like she has.


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## Char-Luv-4-Maltese

> _Originally posted by CharmyPoo+Apr 15 2005, 07:57 PM-->
> 
> 
> 
> <!--QuoteBegin-Teaco
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> _
> 
> 
> 
> @Apr 15 2005, 07:40 PM
> *My reason for asking was the lady in PA that screwed me over an the dogs I bought from her was suppose to be Villa Malta breed I know she talked so much about Marge I guess I have four of the Villa Malta dogs but have no way of proving it since she lied to me on giving me full breeding rights an AKC papers she stole two of my dogs two. Umm I will have to do some more reading up on the Villa Malta then I find this interesting.
> Teaco
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=53068*
Click to expand...

Teaco,
I will suggest that you get your pups DNAed. If I am correct, the parents will likely have a DNA record with AKC. Many of the Villa Malta dogs and hers have been DNAed by request from AKC. All Frequently Used Studs are required to be DNAed and I am sure hers will be classified as such. Once you DNA your dogs, you can see if they match up to the claimed parents. Another thing to note ... only SOME of her dogs are from Villa Malta lines. I am not sure what else she has been breeding with. Villa Malta did not have such large dogs like she has.
<div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=53079
[/B][/QUOTE]


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## art

*Villa Malta Bloodline- breeder Debbie*

Just wanted to warn anyone looking for a maltese breeder. I would strongly suggest staying away from Plum, PA where a woman named Debbie breeds the villa malta bloodline of maltese- or so she claims. Our little girl came home with fleas and had to be treated immediately the very next day. Which I thought was strange since this breeder made a point of mentioning how none of her dogs ever have fleas and if they do its the new owner's fault. Our maltese was diagnosed with a genetic disease (birth defect) at 1 1/2 years old (after the year health gurantee expired-not that we would have brought her back to that women). Our vet (highly trained surgeon and expert in his field) ran extensive tests (including biopsies and colonoscopy). She was diagnosed with a horrible case of IBD- a form of crohns. She was immediately put on high dosages of steroids and antibiotics and a hypoallergenic diet. This disease is horrible. It caused protein fluid to leak out of her intenstines and since it had no where to go, filled her chest cavity with fluid. After taking her to the Ohio State University for a plueral port and further surgies- there was nothing more they could do. She lived until 3 days after her 6th birthday and passed away. The doctors told me over and over again that they see this more and more with too much inbreeding with breeders claiming to be ethical. Stay away from this breeder. Her house is filthy and that should have been our first give away. I'm so glad we had 6 years with our angel but it should have been double the time spent enjoying life instead of in and out of the vet hospital constantly. Hope this helps.


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## edelweiss

art said:


> Just wanted to warn anyone looking for a maltese breeder. I would strongly suggest staying away from Plum, PA where a woman named Debbie breeds the villa malta bloodline of maltese- or so she claims. Our little girl came home with fleas and had to be treated immediately the very next day. Which I thought was strange since this breeder made a point of mentioning how none of her dogs ever have fleas and if they do its the new owner's fault. Our maltese was diagnosed with a genetic disease (birth defect) at 1 1/2 years old (after the year health gurantee expired-not that we would have brought her back to that women). Our vet (highly trained surgeon and expert in his field) ran extensive tests (including biopsies and colonoscopy). She was diagnosed with a horrible case of IBD- a form of crohns. She was immediately put on high dosages of steroids and antibiotics and a hypoallergenic diet. This disease is horrible. It caused protein fluid to leak out of her intenstines and since it had no where to go, filled her chest cavity with fluid. After taking her to the Ohio State University for a plueral port and further surgies- there was nothing more they could do. She lived until 3 days after her 6th birthday and passed away. The doctors told me over and over again that they see this more and more with too much inbreeding with breeders claiming to be ethical. Stay away from this breeder. Her house is filthy and that should have been our first give away. I'm so glad we had 6 years with our angel but it should have been double the time spent enjoying life instead of in and out of the vet hospital constantly. Hope this helps.


I just want to say how very sad I am to hear you have lost your baby at such an early age. May she rest in sweet peace now, and may you find some joy in knowing that you gave her the best care money could buy and a lot of love for what money could not buy!
:wub::wub:


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## mss

I thought I had read a few years ago that there had been a dispute over who was going to be allowed to continue to use the name "Villa Maltese." I wonder if the person in Pennsylvania won, or if there is more than one breeder using some variation of the name. 

I'm so sorry about the experience art had.  :grouphug:


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## mss

Oops, speaking of "a few years ago"--this thread was started in 2005! Perhaps things have changed since then--if so, I hope it's for the better.


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## Kaiser

As far as I know, Debbie Palmieri is the sole owner of the Villa Malta. She's an officer at AMA. I've spoken to her when I was looking for a puppy about two months ago. I didn't personally meet her but my gut feeling tells me she's a good breeder. If she didn't recommend Millie to me, I would have waited for a pup from her.

Now, the other "Debbie" that USED to be affiliated with Villa Malta is Debbie Martin. I was warned against getting a pup from her because of how she treats her dogs - I've heard horror stories about her. I believe she still uses the name Villa Malta but with a "P" at the end. I'm not a 100% certain though. 

I'm not sure who you got yours from but if I were to take a guess, I would say your baby was from Debbie Martin. In any case, please accept my condolences for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved member of the family. For what it's worth, please know that you did your best to give your little girl the best life possible.


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## missalita

Wow, something similar happened in the sheltie breed about 20 or 30 years ago (before DNA testing.) What I've been told by old-time breeders was by the time anything was discovered, she had been in it for so long and her blood-line was so entrenched in the breed that it would have ruined the breed to remove her dogs' offspring from the genepool. They said she actually had the same dog showing on opposite coasts at the same time. No one knows which was the real dog and which was the imposter nor which puppies came from which dog.

I'm sure most breeds have similar stories, though.


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## Martysmom

Wow glad I come here to do my research. I was very interested in Debbie Martins puppies with Villa Malta Kennel....... maybe I'm just not meant to have a dog...... I get my hopes up then find stuff out like this.


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## mss

Please don't give up hope of having a well-bred, loving Maltese! But you're wise to seek advice about breeders from this forum.


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## dcm

Villa Malta kennel is currently owned by Debbie Palmeiri (sp?) ONLY.
She has the true Villa Malta and was (might still be) AMA secretary.

It's true, there was a big blow up years back, but it has all been cleared up for quite a while.

Debbie still breeds and shows......but it is NOT Debbie Martin.


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## laureldg

charmypoo said:


> Villa Malta Maltese is one of the oldest existing kennels in North America. I beleive it was started during the 1940's Dr. Vincenzo Calvaresi. He passed on the program to Marge Rozik who carried on the kennel for many many years. Many other breeders had their foundation built from Marge Rozik. This included Jennifer Siliski of Hollybelle Maltese (which you may have heard about in the news).
> 
> When Marge passed away, the kennel name was passed onto Debbie Palmieri and Debbie Martin. They carry on using the kennel name today and continue to produce champion Maltese. They are located in PA.
> 
> Villa Malta has faced a lot of troubles in recent years. Many Villa Malta dogs have lost their registration due to inaccurate book keeping. My Cookie was one of the ones who lost her registration. Her champion brother also lost his registration (pity).
> 
> The history of Maltese is really interesting and you can read about it in many books. One of my favourite is "The Complete Maltese" by Nicholas Cutillo. He talks in great deal about the history of Maltese and many breeding programs (some of which still exist today).


I also had a dog from Marge Rozik. My Cosette lived until four days before her 19th birthday. I've been in mourning for six years but am ready to get another dog. I wish I could get another Villa Malta, but don't know which breeder to contact. We live in NY now (we usually winter in Florida but have stayed here on Long Island for a number of reasons) so I would like to find a breeder I could drive to. I also have The Complete Maltese. It was very exciting to read about Marge after I got our beloved dog from her. Any suggestions you might have would be greatly welcome.


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