Bill of rights gives dogs daily walk, protects other pets and stray cats
A woman walks past a beggar, Laszlo, with his dogs, from left, Panna, a white shepherd, Zaza and Bahur, unknown breed, and Ginzburg, a portly boxer, in downtown Rome. Animal monitors are working hard to get officials to apply new strict guidelines that, if enforced, could be the toast of the animal kingdom.

A woman walks past a beggar, Laszlo, with his dogs, from left, Panna, a white shepherd, Zaza and Bahur, unknown breed, and Ginzburg, a portly boxer, in downtown Rome. Animal monitors are working hard to get officials to apply new strict guidelines that, if enforced, could be the toast of the animal kingdom.
Photograph by : Alessandra Tarantino, The Associated Press

Ariel David, Associated Press
Published: Sunday, May 21, 2006

Every dog has its day, and this could be it for every mistreated kitty, pup and parrot in Rome.

Animal monitors are on the prowl, working hard to get officials to apply strict new guidelines that, if enforced, could be the toast of the animal kingdom.

A city ordinance that went into effect late in November gives dogs the right to daily walks and protects stray cats. It slaps fines on Romans who leave their pets in a vehicle in the hot months between April and October or confine their fish to the classic, round bowls instead of a good-sized aquarium.

Breaking the new rules can mean fines of up to $600 US. More serious offences, such as using animals to beg, can lead to the pet being confiscated.

"Many beggars always have puppies. They buy them on the illegal market for a few euros," said Francesca Cantalini, a monitor for Rome's animal rights office. "The puppies are often sedated, so that they don't move around, and when they grow up who knows what happens to them."

She spoke while combing the streets around Rome's central train station for beggars using animals. She soon spotted a woman in a dark headscarf kneeling on the pavement, a white puppy in her lap attracting sympathy and shiny coins from passers-by.

Cantalini called police, trying to catch the attention of a passing patrol and pleading on her cellphone for half an hour. The police never showed up, and soon the beggar moved on, lifting the tiny mongrel from the pavement and taking it with her.

The case demonstrated a major shortfall in the new rules: monitors need police intervention to hand out fines or confiscate animals, said Giampaolo Vassallo, Cantalini's teammate.

"The hardest part is getting the police involved -- it can be very frustrating sometimes," he said after failing to rescue the puppy.

Ilaria Ferri, head the Italian chapter of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said that as a result of this shortcoming, the city ordinance would amount to "good intentions that will stay on paper," just like Italy's many national laws on animal rights.

She pointed out that each year Italians abandon some 350,000 pets, mostly cats and dogs, despite a law that makes it a criminal offence.

Rome officials insist the new rules can be a useful tool to educate owners on how to respect animals.

"It's like an instructions booklet for all pet owners," said Roberta Pinto, director of the city's animal rights office.

"It sends the message that animals are living beings and have rights," she said. "Of course, it will take a lot of work to modify certain bad habits."

Pinto said her office is working to co-ordinate the monitors' efforts with municipal police and to train officers in the new rules.

Other no-noes in the ordinance include displaying animals in pet shop windows or offering them as prizes at fairs. Electric and choke collars are banned, as are trimming cats' claws or dogs' tails and ears for esthetic purposes.

The ordinance also gives legal recognition to Rome's "gattare," the "cat ladies" who feed thousands of strays, and grants them the authority to care for the city's colonies of cats.

Municipality officials said the law was too recent to provide any figures on how many violations had been committed.

Although police intervention is sometimes crucial, Cantalini and Vassallo said the measure was reserved for the more serious cases of mistreatment.

The two usually spend their days going door-to-door, talking to the owners of pets seen languishing on tiny apartment balconies or tied to short chains.

"We'd rather educate than punish people," Cantalini said. "We talk to owners about their pet and try to check back with them often."

The monitors demonstrated this approach when they spotted a man begging on Via Frattina -- one of Rome's glitziest shopping streets -- while surrounded by a small menagerie of four dogs.

The man gave his name as Laszlo and proudly displayed the membership card of an animal protection group he belonged to in his native Hungary. Now he is homeless, living with Panna, a large white shepherd, a portly boxer named Ginzburg as well as Zaza and Bahur, two brown mutts.

"Obviously he lives with his dogs and takes good care of them. They are much better off with him than in a crowded dog pound," Cantalini said. The pets are all in good health and even have a vet, she explained while chatting with Laszlo.

"Don't worry," she said while petting Zaza. "We'd never take them away from you."
© The Vancouver Province 2006