Cats and Dogs?

[Margaret]

This has been talked about here before so scuse if anyone's bored by it but am wondering what the situation is now in Scalea (or any of the surrounding area) with the (what used to be, I haven't been to Scalea for a while) numerous stray cats and dogs - particularly dogs. I mention this as I wonder if anyone else saw an advert I saw in a Brit mag the other day about AISPA (Anglo-Italian Society for the Protection of Animals). They were targeting neutering and re-homing of cats and dogs in southern Italy. Was going to write/ask more about them but thought I'd check out the situation now. Anyone want to set up a charity shop? Has anyone seen such a thing? Guess you wouldn't want the enormous number you get in the UK but would have thought in such a poor area there would be a market for that sort of re-cycling.

[claire tudge]

What a brilliant idea, I would fully support that in any way I could, was very concerned last year by the number of stray cats and dogs, would be great to give back something positive to the area I love so much and have gained so much from, ive already drummed up some support from co-workers in the uk, keep me posted.

[Doug]

Hi Guys,

The dog situation is the same as you remember in the towns and between. We've not witnessed one of the "round-ups" by provincial officials, but no dogs have disappeared in the last 4 months. They might do it only once a year?

We heard Italians don't like the idea of birth control with dogs any more than people, but since the Italians have a negative birth rate, someone is ignoring the church advice it seems. To do what you want, you would need a local vet to do the clipping and snipping. I only know the office of one near Via Europa and I could ask her if she does it and if she'd want to help you.

For your idea to work locally you'll need someone dedicated to the process fulltime. It is a nice idea and maybe someone will step forward to lead the charge. We cannot. doug

[bella_ciao]

Hi,
I think the idea of a charity shop is great - for we Brits, it has become a big part of our culture and rather "trendy", in almost all parts of the UK. However, if it were to appeal to local Calabrians as well as visitors to the area and expats, I think it would be important to bear their culture in mind as, even in the poorest of areas, the Italians take the way they dress themselves and their homes very seriously, with designer items and fashion statements being very high on the list of priorities.
Nevertheless, I'm sure that if the items offered for sale were good quality, with a decent label or make, it would appeal to the locals and they would be pleased to use and contribute towards the service. Also, things like nice, crisp linens and soft furnishings should appeal, as Italian women are usually very good homemakers and, as we all know, they use table linen on a regular basis for the lovely family meals they turn out on a daily basis and other items to dress their homes. This is just my personal observation, for what it's worth and I'm sure it could be done with some dedication and commitment.
For the less suitable contributions, it might be possible to take them to a recycling depot, although I'm not sure what arrangements there are in Italy for this, or whether you would be remunerated for these items. I guess it takes a bit of research to see whether it would be viable or what kind of red tape would be involved.
By the way, Doug & Di, I do enjoy following the progressive story of your life in Italy on your website - thanks also for the lovely photographs and descriptions, which brings everything to life for the rest of us.
Will be interested to hear about any progress with the charity shop idea.
Ciao a tutti,
Frances.

[Margaret]

It was really good to see people taking seriously what I really put in as a throwaway remark. It would be really good to be able to do something about all the cats and dogs. (By the way is the sort of cats' home still there? - on via Lauro I think). I agree with what Frances says about not being sure how it would tie in with the local culture - it would have to be promoted as something very 'English'! Also as Doug as said it would be quite a commitment. Also Doug's idea of getting neutering going is good - anyone know the catholic church's views as regards animals!!! Maybe a first move would be to lobby the local council - but not so that they just start more frequent massacres! This is really depressing - and it's quite odd as when Italians have pets they really go overboard for them. Will get in touch with that society and see what they say.

[annetigano]

Very interesting to read all your comments and I applaud your enthusiasm.
However, if you want to lobby the local council it should be to do something about the rubbish problem. This, in turn, would very quickly sort a lot of the stray cat and dog situation.
Also, if you eliminated most of the strays, especially cats, you would very soon have a major problem with vermin (rats, etc.) particularly if the rubbish problem is not addressed.
I do love animals and do not like to see the strays on the streets but you will not stop the locals feeding them so I think they are here to stay.
Look forward to reading further comments.

[Margaret]

Agree about the rubbish. Guess the only way around that is to try and persuade the council that tourists don't really see the street piles as interesting olde worlde Italy or whatever...but not sure if that would solve the dog problem (might even make it worse). Someone wrote on here about seeing two dogs eating another dog's corpse on the beach at Scalea which is really on a different level! Also, seeing dogs huddled together in doorways when it gets cold is really bad - and shouldn't be happening in a modern (?) European country. Also, dogs are pack animals so could cause a bigger problem than cats. Anyway the website to look on is Welcome to AISPA - Anglo Italian Society for the Protection of Animals They are doing neutering programmes so wonder if enough people wrote ..... Or maybe even write and pass on their name to the council though maybe thinking there could be any cooperation would be a bit pie in the skyish? As I hadn't been to Scalea lately had wondered if things had improved but obviously not. Am half thinking of decamping to there and if I did would try and put a bit of effort into it all. Will write again to the council and think it would be a good idea if as many as possible did - both about the rubbish and the dogs. Stray dogs in the villages maybe aren't such a problem but the number that there are in a town like Scalea doesn't seem like a good idea.

[uakelly]

Maybe someone e.g. Anne who has good command of Italian could draft a letter that other people on the forum could use. I think that the rubbish and the dog problem are intertwinned. In the book Head over Heels set in puglia, the Australian author deals with the same issue. Interesting!

[Doug]

Hi Guys, now that I've seen much more of the Mezzogiorno, I think Scalea is sort of an area unto itself. Non of the southern provences are wealthy, but that part of Cosenza Provence seems to have the worst roads, worst rubbish problems. I was in Reggio this week and what a beautiful difference. As-is the city of Tropea where we are for 2 weeks -- very clean. Graffitti is a bad problem everywhere, so I think that's a windmill we'll not challenge. The "tourists" are different too. Scalea area is mostly southern Italian tourists who don't see anything wrong with what is there. The tourists/expats around Tropea are from further north in Italy, many Germans, some English, and we met 3 different Americans from very expensive resort towns in the US. My point is, if there is a point, is maybe the clientele and populations of these various places differ. I'm guessing more taxes are collected in some of these areas so the officials are able to keep things cleaner. In Tropea, the trucks empty the rubbish bins DAILY!! Maybe it's simply small town vs. large town. The folks in the larger towns speak a lot more clear Italian than the ones in SDT and Scalea which may indicate the rural concept and values?

This morning we are in a lovely hotel on the harbor of Siracusa, Sicily. When we drove off the ferry yesterday a friendly pack of dogs was lying around as a welcome committee.....dogs are everywhere here too! We're almost disappointed that so many retail employees here speak English. Quite a shock. Also hearing Arabic, German and English on the streets. Good place to visit if you stay on the island of Ortigia. Mainland Siracusa (100 meters away) is more modern, hectic, etc. Tho' the key Greek sites and museums are in the main city.... walking distance from Ortigia.

Salute a tutti cani italiani

Take what you want from these observations. Best to all.

[annetigano]

I agree with Doug that there are some areas that are totally different from Scalea and that is why each town/area is unique. If you want a pristine environment then you should not have chosen Scalea in the first place. If you want to live in a 'little England' then by all means look at some of the resorts that cater for non-Italians but if you want true southern Italian life then you must accept life as it is there. This for us is the charm of Scalea.
I am sorry but I will not be getting involved in trying to change anything (although I would dearly like the rubbish situation to be sorted). I am sorry if this sounds harsh but the lifestyle and culture are part of the appeal of the area.

[Margaret]

It sounded like Doug quite fancied Tropea. Whatever, there's scenic grot and grot grot and dogs eating other dogs' corpses is way beyond scenic grot - let alone the matter of the suffering involved. Can't say I want dogs providing me with picturesque medieval Italy. Anyway, things have already changed beyond recognition in Italy even over the last decade. I wonder if hoping that it's going to stay in some sort of historic aspic isn't a bit like conserving the tribes up the Amazon - except they're a couple of thousand miles up the river whereas Italy's bang in the middle of Europe - though Bosnia was as well and that all ended up very un-European so maybe you're right and any advances might be only skin deep for a long time. For me, loads of stray dogs around is a step too far. I wonder how many people realise just how far Italy (and particularly southern Italy) has moved on even recently. Doug mentioned Sicily. When I first visited there it was still common practise for girls to be 'kidnapped' over night and then to have to marry whoever had managed to snatch them. In some cases even being alone in a room with a non-family male was enough for nuptials to have to be planned. All very 'characterful' but to my mind, like the dogs problems, better said goodbye to. Like grot, there's traditions and traditions.

[jessie]

I think you have put it very well Anne. Scalea- be to it's problems a little blind, be to it's virtues very kind. 'Nuff said!

[Margaret]

Scalea is a really nice small town and has been tarted up really well. I think you have to dig pretty deep (or go fairly wide) to find much of olde Italy now. The signs of EU money are everywhere which is no bad thing for them and the stuff that's been done is really classy. A few years ago we went to a town called San Marco Argentano up above Guardia Piemontese which really seemed in a time warp but expect even there it's moved on now - anyone been there lately? Whatever anyone thinks of modernisation I can't see that stray dogs in need of shelter, food and vets are necessary in the interests of picturesqueness. I wouldn't want Scalea like Tropea of Maratea for other reasons. They've been poshified out of the reasons for their original existence. Not a bad thing for the locals who stand to pick up a lot of posh money and they look very nice but would prefer Scalea. Let's just hope it doesn't get poshified - but wouldn't have thought there's much danger of that. ?any thoughts.

[Doug]

Hi Margaret,

Come si dice poshified in Italiano??!

There are thousands of lovely places in Italy just like in other countries, but often you say "nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there". Such are those towns you mention. We absolutely love where we are and would not trade it for another location, and we accept the area with all its dogs and other "warts". To us Scalea is a fair sized town with lots of shopping and restaurants, so it's fabulous to live so near. We used to drive 1 hour for groceries/movies/restaurants.....everything is relative.

The Cedro Riveriera -- the proximity of mountain and sea for reasonable cost -- how can you ask for more??!!

[Doug]

This is mostly for Claire who has discussed stray dogs with me before. I attach a photo of Gutter Dog. This old boy has been a fixture in Scalea at least since 2008 when I first saw him. He occasionally lies in the lane of traffic defying anyone to hit him, and often relaxes in the gutter. You can see he's been around awhile - much like the old man who is often nearby on a bench. The two of them are regular fixtures on Via T.Campenella which is the road in from Santa Domenica, right across from stazione.

There are not many strays left in our village, maybe 3? There is a current petition in one store protesting the people who collect strays and take them away for medical experiments. Still plenty dogs around in Scalea. We recently heard that in Praia during the summer at night, along the darker beeches, the dogs pack-up and become dangerous. Don't know if this is true, but we won't take Vince there at night to find out. Cheers

[Margaret]

Just a few minutes before I read Doug's posting I received a news-sheet from the AISPA (Anglo-Italian Society for the Protection of Animals) giving details of a shelter caring for 200 dogs in Palermo and a neutering project in Perugia. Although single dogs may become part of the scenery and be known to the locals in small places, unfortunately there are too many cases of groups of dogs fending for themselves - the sight of dogs snuggling up to each other in doorways in the winter in Scalea is not a happy sight. It would be really good if Scalean 'residents' could give some support to the AISPA and maybe get some advice on how to approach the Commune to deal with the problem. The dog in the picture is cute and seems to have organised his life pretty well! Others are not so lucky.

[Doug]

Margaret,
The gutter dog could be the ugliest dog in Calabria, but I like him and I intend to stop now and then to give him treats -- much like the humans I treat outside Mercatissimo and Despar stores. The weather in Scalea is very nice for homeless people as well as homeless dogs!! (although ya never know how bad-off the humans are). I'd like also to meet the old guy that hangs out by gutter dog.

Our American friend living in Praia has two golden retrievers, has met a local vet, AND speaks Italian, so we'll ask her to ask the vet about things related to stray dog management. Ciao

[annetigano]

In the 'il Quotidiano' today there is an article about stray dogs in Scalea.
As far as my translation allows the gist is that 'il Fronte Verde' are involved in addressing the problem of stray dogs. It says that particularly in the holiday season many of our four-legged friends are abandoned by people with no scruples. Some of these end up under the wheels of lorries or cars resulting in 'a horrible end'.
However, for several months there have been various initiatives which provide sterilization of the animals and the insertion of a microchip. This will go some way to reducing the number of reproductions of stray dogs.

If anyone wants to translate the complete article I can type it up and forward it.

[MarKel]

I have just returned from holiday in Scalea, and the situation with dogs in the Petrosa area is getting totally out of hand. We counted nine dogs in the pack one evening hovering around the bins, and two of them appear to be feeding litters of pups. My young niece claims to have seen a litter in the field behind the bins.

They are very intimidating. I went out for a walk with my sister one evening, and the dogs started to bark at us as we approached the bins.We ran like two children - back to the apartment. I had forgotten I could move so fast!

Hopefully there will be a round-up before the summer - I can't imagine what it will be like when those pups join the pack.

Regards,
Markel

[uakelly]

I sympathise with your experience. We were in Scalea for Easter. I was there in Feb. In the Petrosa area. This Easter we saw next to nothing of them but for us there is no compromise on the problem we see with the area... the dogs!
However it does seem to wax and wan, so we are assured? that there are round ups. In Feb there was a pack of new pups but no sign of them at Easter. We have had experience of a two nice dogs which seemed to live on our condominium for about nine months. They disappeared. With the new clean up, we think there may be a greater attempt to sort the problem, apologies to those who are in favour of all the more humane solutions. (It must be very difficult to catch even 50% of the problem on a round up. )
Markel, Can I refer you back to the recommended book, Head over Heels by Chris Harrison? Very interesting on 'the dogs in Puglia'.