In Italy, a public awareness campaign is boomed each year before the departure of summer holidays. Too many animals are abandoned on the roads during this period.
In France, a study was undertaken in order to index the abandoned animals. The dogs of big size are, unfortunately, most concerned. People do not hesitate to mutilate their animal if this one can be recognized (ear cut for example in the case of a tattooing…).
Cruelty towards the animals is punished by the law but it should be believed that it is not it enough !
According to the French Penal Code, any act of cruelty is punished, for certain cases, six months from imprisonment and 150 to 7.000 euros approximately of fine.
Unfortunately, that is not enough to protect them from the irresponsible and cruel act to certain people.

Alas, that would be the trouble with compulsory microchipping - the possibility of mutilation.

What monsters could do such evil acts to their poor animals? And these demons claim that those animals are their pets? Nobody would treat their pets in such a manner! To those demons they are beasts, not pets! Such demons should be jailed for their entire lives!

death penalty!!!! May sound harsh but these ppl do NOT deserve to live! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I wish we could do something more i hate not being able to do more ;-(

When I visited Italy our tour guide mentioned the treatment of pets there. She said that lots of families decide they want a puppy or a kitty, so they buy one. But then the animal gets larger, and because most people live in small homes or apartments, they don´t have room for it. She said lots of people abandon them, dogs mostly, and the poor things roam around.

I didn´t know how true this information was, but I did see a lot of stray dogs running around. I definitely think there should be a heavy fine or imprisonment for this!

I have seen those campaign, too. I know not being a born Italian, summer holiday is not an "absolute must tradition" for me so perhaps it is easier for me to say, but when it comes to that I would much rather give up the holiday trip than giving up my dear boy, which is absolutely out of question.

BTW Molly, I have a better suggestion than death penalty. Those who dump their pets, they need to be transported into the middle of the jungle and left there to fend for themselves. Perhaps they will then learn a lesson or two.

those who do evil, cruel things to defenceless animals on purpose for their demented amusement, they should be kept on lab and utilised for some good cause, like cancer research or something, so all the poor mice and other innocent animals won´t be sacrificed. People like that are hopeless and full of harm if left on the loose in our society, and for what damage they have done, they should contribute to something positive in this way.

Not just in Italy, but all over animal cruely, especially in horrid ways, is because far too rampant. Governments need to step up and say enough is enough! I like the idea of putting someone in the middle of nowhere, with no food or water, or protection from the elements and just the clothes on their backs, and let them fend for themselves. That is, of course, after having a taser gun on you for a while.
Unfortunately, I feel those that do these things I have no heart and or soul, and I´m not sure anything can be done to change these people. I think there needs to be programs put in place for these animals to be rescued, cared for, and proper, good forever homes found for them. Something needs to be done to turn this around.

I heard of the information campaign launched by e french fondation.
If the sorrows were heavier and if the criminals were introduced to the general public (TV, newspaper), perhaps that these rough human would reflect before engaging with a pet and would not have as much facility to give up his pet.
This act is nauseating.

They should launch the same campaign here in Spain, where animal cruelty is the national sport and pastime for a lot of the population. Can you believe that it is ILLEGAL to feed cats on the street here in southern spain?!!! A friend of mine was threatened by the police for feeding strays that she had paid to neuter! She has paid a fortune to neuter strays in the area. The Spanish are so ignorant about animais it is unbelieveable. Near where I work there has been a lady who regularly feeds the strays and at 9.30pm she arrives and they all come trotting up the street. All of a sudden I can´t see any of the normal cats around the area and the food and water is not there. And now it is 35 degrees! These poor souls have been used to having regular food and water then suddenly either they´ve been rounded up and probably put down or they are scavenging in the bins (in which case the community will moan about that). They are so short sighted, verging on the stupid. The youngsters seem to think it is fair sport to torment puppies and kittens or cats on the street. I haven´t seen it in person but if I do I will be taking matters into my own hands. Someone I know had to buy a puppy from some kids to prevent it from being terrorised.

It´s really sad to hear about the lack of protection for animals in countries like Spain and Italy. The situation is really bad here in Trinidad and Tobago and I somehow assumed that Europe had much better laws and policies. The approach to dealing with strays here seems to be to let them roam around so that speeding cars will take care of the problem. Dead dogs and cats on the roads are a common sight.

Oldwoman, are you saying that if microchipping were compulsory that people would mutilate the animal to rip the microchip out?

Thing is - even if microchipping were "compulsory" - even in the USA and Australia - there would be AMPLE people who wouldn´t do it. I don´t know how many times I´ve heard, "I´ve never inoculated ANY of my cats/dogs etc., and they´ve always been FINE. It´s just a scam for vets to make money...." and if they won´t inoculate against disease, how likely are they to microchip?

It´s compulsory for bringing animals IN to Australia, to have a microchip. I feel so much more at ease knowing about the microchip in Piper and Connor - especially since Connor has the freedom of his neighborhood. And even though his new family are too ignorant to re-register his microchip, if they called me, the registered owner, I could set it right.

There´s a book called "Cats in the Sun." I think it´s set on a Greek island. The cats are beautiful, but wild, descended from domestic pets. Italy, like Greece, probably has fine enough weather for these animals to survive on their own. So the stoopid hoo-mans leave them to fend for themselves while they go away on holiday.

Is there a shortage of catteries and kennels in Italy? Are the prices prohibitive? Are there in-home pet services? In home pet service is new here in Australia, but it is what I always used in the USA, not wanting to kennel my babies in a stressful place.

THANKS for your input.
Yes, you are right, however you forgot to mention SPAIN.
In SPAIN, happens the same every year.
Some friends of mine and I have been adopting and taking care of abandoned cats, but we CANNOT keep on going like this.
WE NEED HELP!
The people in SOUTHERN SPAIN (Andalucia, in particular) are ignorant and cruel to animals, not to mention the controversial bullfights. The children ARE NOT educated on how to deal or handle pets.
Any suggestions? We are at the end of our latin and ressources.
Costa de la Luz (Rota, Cadiz)

Yes I agree LiandOllie! Animal Cruelty penaltys are way too light! Thats why it is such a huge problem

Another big problem is that many countries don´t have shelters and public awareness programs that advocate spaying/neutering cats and dogs. Shelters and rescue societies here now de-sex animals before they´re adopted to ensure that that decision isn´t left in the hands of people who may or may not ever get around to it. Even here that´s only happened in the last few years. When I adopted Sophie 10 years ago it was up to me to get her spayed. Outside North American and the UK I suspect that spaying and neutering is regarded as optional but not necessary. Sadly then, the more animals there are running around, the more they can be regarded as a pest and nuisance and therefore disposable. Sad but true that unless that perception changes, and animal rescue organizations worldwide have more government funding for public awareness campaigns and for de-sexing rescued animals, there won´t be much change.

Over here, in the Netherlands, we do have animal shelters, but every summer, they are filled to the brim, and many strays dannot me taken in. Noweadayx, people seem te regard pets as fashion accessories. If you get fed up, you chuck them out, and neutering? Why, that is far too expensive (even though the Dutch equivalent of the RSPCA offers free neutering every spring.)
Anyway, if people cannot afford to neuter their cats, they should not take one, ´cause this means they would not be able to pay the vet´s bills, either, if their cat got ill.
I, for one, will not go on holiday if my cats aren´t taken care of by someone I fully trust with them. In fact, I am a volunteer for a local Cat Care organisation, I go to people´s homes during their holidays to feed their cats, clean the litter box, collect the mail from the mail box and water the plants. They only pay a small fee, that usually does not even cover the actual costs, but it is great to look after people´s cats. Some of them are soooo happy to see you

Good for you Jiskefet, some people, strange as it seems, don´t realise that cats can get lonely.
Spain in particular does seem to have cruelty ingrained in its culture, another horror is the coursing dogs that when they don´t perform well enough, get hung to die slowly in a tree. And then the bullfighting. Their national symbol is the bull and they are filled with a false pride at their association with it, yet they love to torture it and rejoice in its pain. I got onto this subject with a spanish colleague and managed to stay calm as he smiled at a horrendous ppt presentation with photos of the realities of bullfighting, while claiming it was tradition etc. He somehow then started talking about Spain having been a poor country for so long, and how Spaniards always felt like they weren´t good enough - they were the poor cousins in the Europe of rich nations. It dawned on me that Spain has a major inferiority complex, not that that´s any excuse. Having said that there are quite a few Spaniards that are against these cruel practices. My dream is that each country organises at a national level, a campaign to sterilise strays, whilst registering/documenting owned pets, and encouraging their sterilisation too. Why has this not yet been done? Seems crazy that humanity has put a man on the moon and nanotechnology, but still, millions of unwanted animals put down every year.