Italians across the country are looking forward to their annual vacations but the summer season bodes ill for many pets, who will be dumped in their droves over coming weeks, a new report claims.
The study by the Zoomark Studies Centre warns that at least 150,000 dogs and 200,000 cats will be abandoned in Italy this year - most of them over the summer.
The main victims are dogs and cats, but uncaring owners also ditch reptiles, insects, birds and turtles, mostly leaving them by roadsides as they set out on holiday. 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. But despite these grim predictions, Zoomark said the long-running problem had improved somewhat in recent years.
Intensive advertising campaigns, the involvement of celebrities, special TV programs and tough new laws have all helped raise awareness of the situation. 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.
