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Thousands of Pets Abandoned During Summer Vacation |
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By Francesca Colombo*
Every
year in Italy, some 300,000 dogs and cats are left on the streets
by their owners. Eighty-five percent of these household pets die
within 20 days.
MILAN - Summer vacation means a time of great
risk for household pets in Italy. Some vacationers leave without
taking care for their faithful four-footed friends. And many leave
their family cat or dog on the street without a second thought.
The problem has reached national proportions.
Each year, some 300,000 dogs and cats are abandoned in Italy's streets
or parks. The causes range from the ban on bringing animals to hotels,
restaurants and other public sites, to the high costs of paying
for someone to look after the pets.
In Rome, for example, a case of animal mistreatment was filed when
a man left his dog locked in a car for three days because he was
going on vacation for a long weekend, according to a report from
the National Institute for Animal Protection (ENPA).
"In Italy there is not an animal-loving culture. In the past 20
years the desire to have a pet has grown. And a three-member family
usually has a pet. But there is not a sense of moral civic responsibility.
The animals are seen as objects," Gianluca Felicite, director of
the Italian animal rights group LAV, told Tierramérica.
Eighty-five percent of abandoned pets die within 20 days on the
streets, particularly in traffic accidents, which are also heartbreaking
for the drivers. According to the Transit Police, in 2004 there
were 754 automobile accidents in which the drivers tried to avoid
running over a cat or dog crossing the road.
Such accidents claimed the lives of 380 people, and left 9,978 injured.
Meanwhile, 280,000 dogs and cats are killed each year under the
wheels of cars or trucks.
Although Italy's penal code calls for punishing animal abandonment
with one year behind bars in the most serious cases -- such as death
-- and imposes fines ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 euros, it does
not seem to deter pet owners, and the problem continues unresolved.
But pets are abandoned throughout the year, according to LAV, and
reaches its peak (30 percent) when the deer hunting season opens.
The hunters put new hunting dogs to the test, and get rid of the
ones that are not up for the task.
"It is an enormous problem, despite the campaigns for prevention
and the appeals we have made in Italy. Many people don't think about
the responsibilities when they purchase a dog or cat. They see a
puppy and bring it home, but they don't realize that the puppy will
grow up and will require care, walks, food," the presidents of the
Animal Defense Association in the northern city of Trento, Leoni
Enrico, told Tierramérica.
The abandonment of dogs and cats, furthermore, feeds a rather questionable
business at private dog pounds and shelters.
There are 990 public animal shelters in Italy, where there are 640,000
dogs and 1,290 cats, according to the Health Ministry. But these
institutions are not sufficient to hold all stray pets. As a result,
municipalities opt to entrust this task to private centers. The
government contribution to the care for these animals runs from
two to seven euros per day each.
So 5,000 private animal shelters share 500 million euros in state
subsidies to care for the cats and dogs.
But, say animal rights activists, in reality these private centers
do not use those millions of euros to care for, feed and protect
the animals.
"Abandonment is on the rise, but so are the private shelters. From
June to August, owners have the most incredible excuses to get rid
of their pets," Daniela Ferrari, a volunteer with the Italian group
Animal Dimension, said in a Tierramérica interview.
Workers at a dog pound in the southern Italian town of Noha burned
the vocal cords of 190 dogs to keep them from barking and making
excessive noise. The center continues in operation.
In general, the conditions at the private shelters are not good.
The dogs live crowded together in small cages. Their eyes are often
closed as a result of conjunctivitis, they have sores and are bone-thin
from malnutrition.
Too often they are surrounded by their own excrement and are unprotected
from the heat or the cold. They lack veterinary care, are mistreated,
and up to 60 percent die while at the private dog pound. Hunger
and lack of space makes the dogs aggressive, leading to cases of
attacks and even cannibalism.
"It's easy to mistreat animals. Many owners do so inside their homes.
If someone wants to report it, the police themselves convince them
not to. The cases are filed away because they are considered minor
crimes," explains Ludovica Lucia Ferrari, of the Association for
the Defense of Animals, in the northern region of Lombardia.
* Francesca Colombo is a Tierramérica contributor.
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