This is Not a Chihuahua: Malta’s Viral Meme Exposes Island’s Tiny-Flat, Tiny-Dog Obsession

**This is Not a Chihuahua: How Malta’s Dog Obsession Sparked a Viral Sensation**

Valletta’s Republic Street was buzzing louder than a chihuahua’s bark last Saturday afternoon. Outside the new pet-friendly café “Paw-lazzo,” a crowd of twenty-somethings held up hand-painted signs reading “This is NOT a chihuahua!” while their own pocket-sized pooches—dressed in hand-knitted Malta-flag sweaters—yapped in solidarity. The impromptu protest-cum-photo-shoot was Malta’s tongue-in-cheek answer to a global meme that has finally reached our rocky shores, and it’s exposing our island’s complicated relationship with tiny dogs, big identities and even bigger rents.

The meme itself is disarmingly simple: a snapshot of any small, bug-eyed canine accompanied by the caption “This is not a chihuahua.” The punchline is that, regardless of what the owner insists, the creature in question is obviously a chihuahua—or at least a genetic cousin that’s 90% tremble and 10% taco. Launched on TikTok by a Mexican user poking fun at entitled pet parents, the joke has since been adopted by cities from Brooklyn to Berlin to highlight local absurdities. Leave it to the Maltese, then, to give the meme a Mediterranean twist that involves church bells, festa fireworks and a hefty dose of property-related satire.

“Here, the meme isn’t about dogs—it’s about space,” explains Sliema-based stand-up comedian and dog-walker Klara Muscat, 29, who organised the Valletta gathering via Instagram Stories in under three hours. “Everyone’s squeezing into smaller flats while trying to convince themselves they’re living in a penthouse. If your studio is 35 square metres, calling your chihuahua a ‘wolf-husky mix’ feels like the same delusion.” Muscat’s punchline drew cheers from the crowd, many of whom admitted they pay €900 monthly for “open-plan” apartments that can’t swing a cat—let alone accommodate a Labrador.

Malta currently boasts one of the highest rates of dog ownership in the EU—62 registered dogs per 100 humans, according to the Agriculture Ministry’s 2023 report—yet also suffers the bloc’s densest population. The result is a nation where pint-sized pups have become emotional support animals for humans squeezed into sky-high rents. “People need something to cuddle when the electricity bill arrives,” laughs local veterinarian Dr. Aiden Camilleri. “But they also want bragging rights. Calling their chihuahua a ‘rare Teacup Tibetan Mastiff’ justifies the €3,000 they paid at the parking-lot puppy market.”

The meme’s arrival has sparked a wider conversation about ethical breeding. Animal welfare NGOs like MSPCA report a 40% spike in chihuahua and chihuahua-mix surrenders over the past year, many sporting cherry eyes and anxiety disorders from backyard breeding. “The joke’s funny until another trembling five-kilo dog gets abandoned outside Żabbar sanctuary,” notes volunteer coordinator Maria Elena Dalli. “We turned the meme into an educational poster: ‘This is not a toy; it’s a 15-year commitment.’”

Still, Maltese creativity has flourished. Gozitan artisan Jasmine Portelli is screen-printing tote bags that read “This is not a chihuahua; this is my landlord,” with proceeds funding sterilisation drives. Pastizzi vendor Carmelu in Birkirkara rebranded his smallest pastizzi as “chihuahua size,” selling out by 9 a.m. Even the Malta Tourism Authority jumped aboard, tweeting a photo of the Ġgantija temples captioned “This is not a chihuahua—this is 5,500 years of history,” which locals hailed as the first time MTA’s social media made actual sense.

Perhaps most tellingly, the phrase has slipped into everyday banter. Overheard at a bus stop: “€4.50 for a kinnie? This is not a chihuahua, this is robbery!” In a country where identity is fiercely protected—whether language, festa or fenkata—the meme offers a release valve: we know we’re exaggerating, but at least we’re laughing together.

As the sun set over the Grand Harbour and the last tiny dog was tucked into a designer tote, Klara Muscat summed it up: “We’re a small island with big personalities. Claiming your chihuahua is a wolf is the same as claiming your bachelor pad is a villa. The meme lets us mock that without crying.” And in Malta right now, that’s worth more than a bucket of puppy treats.