The or es, Ratonero mallorquín, italic=no is a Spanish
breed of dog of
ratter
A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a professional form of pest control. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases, most notoriously the Black Death, and to prevent d ...
type, found on the island of
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
in the
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
.
History
The origins of the breed are unclear, with no documentary evidence before the late nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century,
Valencians migrated to Mallorca; they may have brought some ratters with them. It is widely believed that the Ca Rater Mallorquí is related to the
Gos Rater Valencià; it is also possible that there was some infusion of English
terrier blood in the history of the breed.
A
breed society, the , was established in 1990, and registrations were begun. The breed was recognised by the
autonomous community of the Balearic Islands with the publication of the
breed standard in the ''
Butlletí Oficial de les Illes Balears'' in 2002, and in 2004 it received national recognition when the standard was published in the ''
Boletín Oficial del Estado
The ''Boletín Oficial del Estado'' (''BOE''; " en, Official State Gazette, label=none", from 1661 to 1936 known as the ''Gaceta de Madrid'', " en, Madrid Gazette, label=none") is the official gazette of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain and may be p ...
'', the official journal of the government of Spain.
Use
The Ca Rater Mallorquí is used on the island of Mallorca to hunt rats and rabbits. It is a good
watchdog, and a good
companion animal.
See also
*
Dogs portal
*
List of dog breeds
This list of dog breeds includes both Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, extant and extinct dog breeds, Designer breed, varieties, landraces, and dog types. A research article on genomics, dog genomics published in Science/AAAS defines m ...
References
Dog breeds originating in the Balearic Islands
Terriers
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