S&S - Stray animals remain a problem in Naples

Stars and Stripes



Stray animals remain a problem in Naples


By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sandra Jontz / S&S


A group of stray or abandoned dogs available for adoption gather at a gate of the Lega Pro Animale veterinary clinic and shelter in Mondragone, Italy.

Sandra Jontz / S&S

One of the stray or abandoned dogs available for adoption from the Lega Pro Animale veterinary clinic and shelter in Mondragone is this German Shepherd mix, which was microchipped and registered to a U.S. Navy servicemember who had been stationed in Naples, Italy. The dog likely was abandoned after the member left, said Dr. Dorothea Friz, adding the Navy said it was unable to locate the individual.

Sandra Jontz / S&S
Petty Officer 2nd Class Steve Dockendorff plays with Russell, one of several dogs the Naples, Italy-based sailor has fostered. Over the years and between duty stations in Italy and Bahrain, Dockendorff has adopted or fostered roughly 17 stray dogs.

NAPLES, Italy — Marcella Falco loves her job. But each morning, she dreads going to work.
Will this be another morning when she finds a dog chained to the gates of the animal shelter?
"It just breaks my heart. Every week, we find one dog, two dogs, just left outside the shelter," Falco said. "Sometimes they are just running around outside the gate. Sometimes they are chained. What choice do we have? We give them a home."

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In Italy, animal shelters too often become the final home for thousands of abandoned or stray dogs, including the 550 dogs and puppies that reside at the privately run Rifugio San Francesco in Ischitella, a suburb of Naples. "

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"Some are abandoned by U.S. servicemembers when they leave their duty stations, although the number of pets left behind by the military is not available. Most, however, are from the country’s rampant stray population.

Italy has nearly 150,000 stray dogs and nearly 2.6 million stray cats, according to Ministry of Health data."