S&S - Italy: Officials, activists rescue dogs from shelter. Raid saves 51 animals from substandard living conditions

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Italy: Officials, activists rescue dogs from shelter

Raid saves 51 animals from substandard living conditions

By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes


European edition, Saturday, February 14, 2009

Sandra Jontz / S&S

Animal activists team with and Italian health officials to load some of 51 shelter dogs seized Friday into a truck, which would take them to other Naples-area shelters. The shelter was shut down Friday after a court injunction on charges of cruelty to animals.

Sandra Jontz / S&S
This damaged and unsafe pen is but one example of the poor conditions dogs at a Castelvultorno animal shelter lived in. The shelter was shut down Friday, and the 51 dogs taken to other Naples-area shelters.

Sandra Jontz / S&S
Salvatore De Micco, an official with Naples' health department, scans a shelter dog to read its microchip. Animal Activists, some of whom are spouses of military members stationed at NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command or the U.S. Navy base, have worked to make sure all the dogs at the shelter were neutered and micro chipped so they could be taken to other area shelters.

CASTELVOLTURNO, Italy — Italian health officials, flanked by animal activists, raided and shut down an animal shelter Friday that officials said was being run in a substandard manner.

Read the whole article here.

S&S - German woman adopts dog neglected by American family

Stars and Stripes

German woman adopts dog neglected by American family


By Seth Robson and Marcus Klöckner, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Sunday, January 18, 2009

Seth Robson / S&S


A German woman has adopted this dog, which was left outside by an American family that went to Puerto Rico for three weeks during the Christmas holiday.


GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Military police may charge the American owners of a dog left tied up outside while the family went on a three-week Christmas holiday to Puerto Rico.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Grafenwöhr resident Angelika Berlinski said she and other locals became concerned about the dog, which was tied up on the front porch of a house in Grafenwöhr during one of the coldest winters on record in Germany."

"Berlinski said the dog’s owners left a fan heater running on the porch and a large quantity of dry dog food.

There was also a bowl of water but it was frozen because of the cold, she said.

Two weeks after the dog’s owners went on holiday, Berlinski contacted German police to report a case of animal cruelty. But when the authorities failed to act she took matters into her own hands."

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"Shawn Driscoll, Provost Marshall for U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr, said the incident is under investigation and that the owner could be charged with animal cruelty. Stripes was unable to ascertain the family’s identity and therefore could not interview them for this story."