Tough new laws aimed at stopping Italians ditching their pets when they go on holiday simply aren't working, animal rights groups say.
Animal protection groups OIPA and City Angels launched a new awareness campaign in Milan on Thursday with a now-traditional showgirl strip-tease and rally in front of the city's famed Castello Sforzesco.
Years of TV ad campaigns and a 2004 law introducing 1,000-10,000 euro fines and a one-year jail term for offenders "haven't made a dent on the stony hearts of those who abandon their pets," said City Angels head Mario Furlan.
"Since the start of the summer our volunteers have rescued 40 dogs in Milan alone," he said.
Some 11,000 bewildered and starving dogs are picked up each year in Lombardy alone, he said - more than one every hour.
Across Italy, 150,000 dogs and 200,000 cats were abandoned last year - almost all of them over the summer.
Milan's provincial government animal rights chief Edgar Meyer urged citizens to report anyone seen ditching a pet.
He pointed out that the local government has set up a freephone line providing information on hotels, camp sites and beaches that welcome animals, as well as kennels and associations that are more than willing to take in pets while their owners are on holiday.
"There's simply no excuse any more," Meyer said.
Dogs and cats are the main victims of the great summer dumping spree but uncaring owners also ditch reptiles, insects, birds and turtles, according to a recent report from Zoomark Studies Centre.
Most of the suddenly unwanted pets are left by roadsides as their owners set out for beach or mountain resorts.
Few survive, said the report, underlining that 85% of dogs will die within 20 days of being abandoned. Road accidents are the main cause of death, killing 280,000 cats and dogs each year.
Furthermore, animals left wandering the highways are not only at risk themselves, they are also a serious hazard to motorists, said Zoomark.
The most recent figures available, for 2004, show that nearly 9,000 road accidents were caused by drivers either hitting animals or swerving to avoid them.
However, Zoomark said the long-running problem had improved slightly because of intensive advertising campaigns, the involvement of celebrities, special TV programs and tough new laws.
NEW FACILITIES.
There are now nearly 3,000 hotels, campsites and B&Bs that cater to pets nationwide. In terms of hotels, bars and restaurants, Lombardy offers pet-owners the most choice, while Tuscany has the best-equipped beaches for animals.
The report noted that over a third of Italian pet-owners now take their animals with them on vacation, 61% because they consider them "part of the family", 18% because they "don't trust others to take care of them" and 16% because of "organizational difficulties".
Of those who don't take their pets with them, 42% say this is to avoid "causing stress" to the animal. Over a third say they can't find accommodation that suits their needs, 11% claim it is too complicated to organize, while 7% are too scared of losing their pet.
A quarter of Italians leave their pets at home, giving the keys to neighbours, while 21% entrust them to friends.
A devoted 18% give up on their vacation entirely out of love for their animals.
