Sad News Out of Italy
Guénady
July 03, 2008
Independent dog rescuers from Italy, spending some time in Nice on vacation, have brought us disturbing information.
Of all the predators on Earth, Man seems the most depraved, for his ability to invent new ways of suffering, while remaining indifferent to that suffering. A sense of empathy is lacking, perhaps totally absent, in a good number of specimens of our species. Often, pure sadism is not the motivation, but merely monitary gain, although it can be argued that the resulting mental and spiritual depravity is on an equivalent footing for both. What is intolerable is that men (and women) of this category, by virtue of their greed and their ruthless need to satisfy it, have come to rule in so many areas of modern life. Particiatory governments everywhere seem to pay lip service only to the idea that they are beholding to the people... Police serve their function as the strong-arm enforcer for the governments in power, however corrupt they may be. And the threat of personal violence (mafia-style) is used to keep individuals in line.
Thank God, there are still courageous souls ready to do battle, particularly when it is a question of defending the defenseless. Surely every situation will find its heroes ready to stand up for the principles that make civilization and human life worth living, something that greedy materialists are incapable of comprehending, and which is why they cannot be trusted in any position of authority.
In Italy, the animal protection laws, on paper, are among the most enlightened in Europe. Under these laws, dogs cannot be euthanized, just because they are homeless. Every commune in the country is supposed to have a pound or shelter where these dogs can be kept, while waiting to be reunited with their owners, or rehomed. The problem is that many small communes have spared themselves the expense of creating and operating such pounds by enlisting private shelters to do the job for them. The government pays 5€ per day towards the care of each dog and for the upkeep of these private shelters. And wherever there is money to be made, the criminal mind is not far behind.
There are private shelters all over Italy, in out-of-the-way places, where people do not normally poke their noses, where the dogs are put into cages, the cages stacked one on top of the other, and where the dogs never get out to run or walk, where they live simply to justify the income of 5€ per day. Eight hundred thousand dogs, more or less, are in this situation, and held in such private shelters. One that we were told about has 77 dogs and the two women, criminals, who run it have no intention of rehoming them. The captive dogs receive minimal care, but bring in an income of 385€ per day, seven days a week. For a typical month, of 30 days, that makes an 'easy' income of 11,550€... Easy, because the women do next to nothing to earn it... The plight of the dogs caught up in such a 'shelter' is beyond imagining... No hope of ever leaving the cage, kept alive just for the 5€ a day, per head.
Our Italian friends told us that three or four years ago, the WWF sent out investigators to look into this situation at such a shelter, in the middle of nowhere. The investigators were beaten up and driven off. That experience was enough to convince the WWF that they hadn't the resources to deal with the problem. So, they abandoned the issue, and with it the hapless dogs who are its victims and prisoners...
Sure, there is no end of situations of animal suffering that need attention in this world, and situations where it is easier to act than in this once. But what is not acceptable is to leave the problem to fester, in silence and out of sight, while the victims rot. What anyone and everyone can do, is to make sure this situation becomes common knowledge and that public outrage is expressed. The first step towards a solution is making the problem publicly known.
And what is the solution to the situation? Our Italian friends speak of the need to send the army in, to deal with these criminal elements. But, of course, wanting to be sure to get the prisoners/hostages out alive, they suggest that a better alternative is to insist that the local communes that trade with these private shelters put an end to the arrangement. They should take over the shelters themselves, perhaps spurred on under obligation from the central government, as a strict reading of the law requires. They should renovate the premises where necessary, which may be most of the time, and then run them directly by the municipality, an arrangement which would open the shelters to oversight by dog protection associations...
We think that to put an end to the 'mafia shelters' in Italy, public indignation must be voiced, and, as seems necessary, Italy must be further embarrassed over its organized criminals so that government, whether national or local, will move on this issue. The resources of a major international animal defense association, or even several, are needed to bring this problem to the attention of international public opinion.
Where are the associations with resources (apparently not the WWF) that will take this issue on and see that it becomes publicly known? All of us should be insisting that the major associations with which we have contacts bring this issue the attention of the public everywhere.
The criminal elements that control the garbage collection services in Italy rightly need to be 'cleaned up' themselves. But first, the criminals who put dogs permanently into cages, condemning them to a living hell, so as to collect 5€ per day on their existences, these criminals need urgently to be put out of business. Once the criminal elements in sheltering have been driven off, regular inspections can begin, to be sure that none of the criminals sneak their way back into the system. Their sad victims, hundreds of thousands of them, are waiting to be rescued –really rescued!-- and they need all the help they can get.
Of all the predators on Earth, Man seems the most depraved, for his ability to invent new ways of suffering, while remaining indifferent to that suffering. A sense of empathy is lacking, perhaps totally absent, in a good number of specimens of our species. Often, pure sadism is not the motivation, but merely monitary gain, although it can be argued that the resulting mental and spiritual depravity is on an equivalent footing for both. What is intolerable is that men (and women) of this category, by virtue of their greed and their ruthless need to satisfy it, have come to rule in so many areas of modern life. Particiatory governments everywhere seem to pay lip service only to the idea that they are beholding to the people... Police serve their function as the strong-arm enforcer for the governments in power, however corrupt they may be. And the threat of personal violence (mafia-style) is used to keep individuals in line.
Thank God, there are still courageous souls ready to do battle, particularly when it is a question of defending the defenseless. Surely every situation will find its heroes ready to stand up for the principles that make civilization and human life worth living, something that greedy materialists are incapable of comprehending, and which is why they cannot be trusted in any position of authority.
In Italy, the animal protection laws, on paper, are among the most enlightened in Europe. Under these laws, dogs cannot be euthanized, just because they are homeless. Every commune in the country is supposed to have a pound or shelter where these dogs can be kept, while waiting to be reunited with their owners, or rehomed. The problem is that many small communes have spared themselves the expense of creating and operating such pounds by enlisting private shelters to do the job for them. The government pays 5€ per day towards the care of each dog and for the upkeep of these private shelters. And wherever there is money to be made, the criminal mind is not far behind.
There are private shelters all over Italy, in out-of-the-way places, where people do not normally poke their noses, where the dogs are put into cages, the cages stacked one on top of the other, and where the dogs never get out to run or walk, where they live simply to justify the income of 5€ per day. Eight hundred thousand dogs, more or less, are in this situation, and held in such private shelters. One that we were told about has 77 dogs and the two women, criminals, who run it have no intention of rehoming them. The captive dogs receive minimal care, but bring in an income of 385€ per day, seven days a week. For a typical month, of 30 days, that makes an 'easy' income of 11,550€... Easy, because the women do next to nothing to earn it... The plight of the dogs caught up in such a 'shelter' is beyond imagining... No hope of ever leaving the cage, kept alive just for the 5€ a day, per head.
Our Italian friends told us that three or four years ago, the WWF sent out investigators to look into this situation at such a shelter, in the middle of nowhere. The investigators were beaten up and driven off. That experience was enough to convince the WWF that they hadn't the resources to deal with the problem. So, they abandoned the issue, and with it the hapless dogs who are its victims and prisoners...
Sure, there is no end of situations of animal suffering that need attention in this world, and situations where it is easier to act than in this once. But what is not acceptable is to leave the problem to fester, in silence and out of sight, while the victims rot. What anyone and everyone can do, is to make sure this situation becomes common knowledge and that public outrage is expressed. The first step towards a solution is making the problem publicly known.
And what is the solution to the situation? Our Italian friends speak of the need to send the army in, to deal with these criminal elements. But, of course, wanting to be sure to get the prisoners/hostages out alive, they suggest that a better alternative is to insist that the local communes that trade with these private shelters put an end to the arrangement. They should take over the shelters themselves, perhaps spurred on under obligation from the central government, as a strict reading of the law requires. They should renovate the premises where necessary, which may be most of the time, and then run them directly by the municipality, an arrangement which would open the shelters to oversight by dog protection associations...
We think that to put an end to the 'mafia shelters' in Italy, public indignation must be voiced, and, as seems necessary, Italy must be further embarrassed over its organized criminals so that government, whether national or local, will move on this issue. The resources of a major international animal defense association, or even several, are needed to bring this problem to the attention of international public opinion.
Where are the associations with resources (apparently not the WWF) that will take this issue on and see that it becomes publicly known? All of us should be insisting that the major associations with which we have contacts bring this issue the attention of the public everywhere.
The criminal elements that control the garbage collection services in Italy rightly need to be 'cleaned up' themselves. But first, the criminals who put dogs permanently into cages, condemning them to a living hell, so as to collect 5€ per day on their existences, these criminals need urgently to be put out of business. Once the criminal elements in sheltering have been driven off, regular inspections can begin, to be sure that none of the criminals sneak their way back into the system. Their sad victims, hundreds of thousands of them, are waiting to be rescued –really rescued!-- and they need all the help they can get.