“PFor obvious hygienic-sanitary reasons, citizens are requested to do not feed stray cats. Citizens are invited not to leave food on the ground along the streets of Cetara or under rubbish bins. Food debris attracts mice and pests, creating an additional concern health alarm. Furthermore, the smelly excrement produced by cats makes the alleys, streets and squares of the town unseemly.” With these words, written in black and white on a poster posted in the street, the mayor, Fortunato Della Monica, and the councilor for the environment, Marco Marano, invited citizens to no longer feed stray cats.
“Don’t feed stray cats.” The mayor’s manifesto infuriates animal rights activists
Animal rights activists come to the defense of ownerless catsInternational Organization for Animal Protection (Oipa) who invited them to remove the posters and, rather, to organize a meeting with their local volunteers to plan useful activities for the correct management of cats in the city.
Respecting animal welfare as well as hygiene and urban decorum.
The “cat lovers” against the mayor of Cetara
But the tone of the public notice appears quite mocking. «The expressions “cat lovers” and “please take care of cats in your own home!” they are neither correct nor respectful of volunteer activity. So much so as to damage the image of those who, daily and without burden on the treasury, work on the streets for the protection of stray animals, which is the responsibility of the Municipality itself”, points out the lawyer Claudia Taccani, head of the Legal Office of Oipa.
«We remind you that voluntary activity, regulated by the Third Sector Reform (legislative decree no. 117/2017), is protected as much as roaming animals in a municipality are protected by law (law no. 281/1991). We await a response from the mayor of Cetara and a response to our request.”
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED