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I enjoy working with the kids in school when
we elaborate these numbers. And dogs do not
suffer from the menopause; they are
proliferating until they die!
It is very clear that this huge problem certainly
cannot be resolved through kennelling and/or
re-homing. There are simply too many. And
often puppies grown up in a kennel or in the
streets are not “socialized” and do not fit very
well in a family. They only know their pack
and its life that is (for a dog) very interesting
even if often very dangerous.
All over the world a stray problem is normally
answered by catching and killing the animals.
Without success it seems, because this tactic
has been used for ages without ever reducing
the total number of dogs in a territory on long
term. After some of the animals have been
caught, the “vacancy” is immediately
occupied by a puppy or another dog that would
continue to migrate or die. The total number of
dogs is not increasing immeasurably; it is
limited by three parameters: the offer of food,
water and the possibility to be protected from
climatic factors or natural enemies. This is the
so-called “holding capacity”The same happens if we catch dogs to recover
them in kennels. Besides that a dog certainly
prefers a lifelong human partner instead of
being lifelong in prison, the problem never will
be resolved. More and more kennels need to be
built and the number inside those will increase
constantly.
So, what can we do? Increase the re-homing
rate? Locally or in other countries? Often dogs
in these mass kennels are not really healthy and
the average future dog owner prefers to buy
one from a breeder even if some of these dogs
are known to have lots of problems. We need to
change the mentality! Yes, this is very
important, but a long-term project and it takes
ten of years to see a change.
Some Mayors ordered not to feed strays
anymore. This is a pace in the right direction,
but certainly inhumane: if you see a skinny
creature rummaging through the rubbish for
something to eat you automatically grab the tin
opener!
But influencing the “holding capacity” (food,
water, protection) would be a solution. For
example Mayors could take better care of the
rubbish that is lying around everywhere…
What would you do if in your house if a tap would
drip and drip and drip ….. You would dry under it
(catching animals for killing or re-homing them)?
You would place a bucket underneath (=
kennels)? And if it is full? It is so clear that you
should CLOSE THE TAP. Am I right?
There should only be born the number of puppies
that new owners are waiting for already. We have
to “CLOSE THE TAP”, in other words: BIRTH
CONTROL! Information and education is the
first step forward. We need to work especially
with the younger generation. There is a German
saying: “if little John does not learn something,
big John won't learn it anymore” and this is true.
The television should inform regularly and
correctly about having a pet in a family. And to
avoid suffering, these animals should be spayed
and neutered.
It sounds so easy and logical, but many dog
owners project their own human feelings on their
four legged family members that it will last for
ages until the problem of stray animals will be
resolved all over the world.
Dorothea Friz, DVM
www.legaproanimale.org
HOW CAN YOU HELP
US??
- with a donation
- adopting an animal
- with an adoption from a distance of our
“oldies” (including one of the buffaloes)
- telling all your relatives and friends about us
- helping actively on site, maybe in the Summer
Holidays or at Weekends (gardening, repair
works, painting, administration or simply
playing with the dogs and cats)
- taking a dog (or several) to Germany to its
new owner
- sponsor a spay or neuter, or eventually a
neuter course for a vet
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP
ITALIAN ANIMALS FOREVER?
ASK YOUR LAWYER HOW TO
LEAVE A SUM FOR THIS
PURPOSE IN YOUR WILL.
NEWSLETTER
2012
SUMMER - SOMMER
STRAY DOGS ….
Many years ago, while I was still studying, I had a non-spayed
female dog. We lived in the middle of a small village in Bavaria.
When Lola went on heat, we had visitors: Benny, a straggly haired
small male dog from the neighbouring village (3,5 km away did he
“smell” this?) and Nemis, a great Dane crossbreed from the other
side of my village. Over the years I could control the “twice-yearlyevent”, but once they got her: an unwanted litter; 8 puppies. They
were offered in the newspaper and by the age of 2 months all of them
found a home. One pregnancy per life and all went well…….
Here in the south of Italy and probably even in other countries where
there is a stray dog problem, only a few people control their dogs.
They allow them to roam freely and certainly every female will have
two litters per year. The owners try to re-home the puppies, but the
market is saturated, the kennels over crowded. The puppies,
unwanted dogs and/or especially sick animals are abandoned
without any hesitation. If they survive, they will be eventually
caught and taken to one of these kennels. From 1991 in Italy a “no
kill” law was introduced and communities have to pay for lifelong
accommodation of stray(ing) dogs. This fact mobilized not only
animal protection organizations to start a thriving business, there are
hundreds of commercial kennels offering their services to town
councils. Only in the Region of Campania (density of population
429,25 inhabitants per square kilometre) over 40.000 dogs are
recovered in such establishments. If we count only 1 Euro per day
per dog (and sometimes they get up to 5 Euro daily per animal!), a
million-Euro-business shows up. And naturally the business is
flourishing if there are hundreds or thousands of dogs in one kennel.
But mass-sheltering was already known before the no-kill law was
launched, managed by animal protection organizations. 200, 300,
600 or more dogs cooped up in tiny enclosures, no room to run, no
human contact, no proper dog food, no vet: a scene of horror. Those
responsible are “doing their best”, sacrifice their lives for the
animals. And there are more and more and more …..
An uncontrolled female dog has a litter every six months. Small
dogs produce fewer puppies on average per litter than big dogs, but
there are once in a while 17 puppies in one. At the age of 5 months
dogs can have their first heat cycle and proliferate. The pregnancy
lasts only 2 months. Assuming only five puppies per litter and two
litters per year and a life expectancy of 10 years there will be 100
puppies from only one female dog. And the female puppies have
their first litter already in the first year of life. If we count all the
puppies from the puppies and their puppies a tremendous number
comes out: in fact there will be over 20 million puppies starting from
one female over a period of 10 years.
Cont. last page
The Persian cat Luna from the Tremiti Islands found a wonderful home with Nina
Ruge (a German TV journalist). She is helping a lot and lately she published an
article about our work here in southern Italy in a German dog magazine (DOGS,
July/August, pages 64-71).
THANK YOU VERY MUCH DEAR NINA!!!
JULIE AND STEVE ……
….. you are
simply
wonderful !!!!!
Above: at the Queen of England's Summer
Ball (doesn't she look like a princess?)
Small picture: to raise money for the work of
LEGA PRO ANIMALE Julie and Steve walked
46 miles in one day. They collected over
£1.000,00 and AISPA doubled the sum. Nearly
100 animals will be spayed/neutered with this
fabulous donation avoiding thousands of
unwanted puppies and kittens.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
NINA RUGE + LUNA
DANKE GRAZIE THANKS DANKE GRAZIE THANKS
Susanne and Werner from Germany come to LPA nearly every
year to spend their holidays with us to help. This time they
whitewashed the entire dog kennels and produced a scratch
board for the buffaloes from heavy brooms. Emilio has a look at
the new equipment and thinks that it is wonderful. Now he can
have a brush massage after his daily bath in the buffalo pool .
Thank you so much!
Christian Much, German General Consol of Naples
and the south of Italy together with his press officer,
Mrs. Weber pay an official visit to LEGA PRO
ANIMALE. You can find a report on this on the
facebook page of the consulate:
www.facebook.com/ConsolatoGermaniaNapoli.
A heartfelt thanks for this fantastic help. Maybe the
“police and co” will stay away from us in future.
Do you like animals, especially dogs and
cats? We are looking for a volunteer,
economically/financially independent,
to live in our centre. In exchange we offer
free stay in furnished accomodation (2
small rooms, kitchen, shower/WC and
central heating) for taking care of the
property. Our financial situation does
not allow us to offer a salary.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Mrs. Rosolino and the Rass family from Germany renounced on birthday presents and asked for a
donation for the work of LEGA PRO ANIMALE instead. A SUPER IDEA - HUNDREDS OF ANIMALS
WILL BE “RESCUED” THROUGH SPAYING AND NEUTERING!!
Thanks to all sponsors all over the world who donate small and big amounts of
money to enable us to work.
Special thanks to DEUTSCHER TIERSCHUTZBUND e.V. in Bonn/Germany for
suggesting us to the transmission in television “Martin Ruetter hilft”. Super
thanks to Martin Ruetter and Nina Ruge great performance! And naturally
thanks to all the donors! A big THANK YOU to Dr. Lambracht and staff of
Deutscher Tierschutzbund e.V. and the co workers of Mina TV for handing over
this fabulous donation - this will be the first time in nearly 30 years that I can
cover all the expenses without attacking my private account!!! SUPER
THANKS!!!
Many thanks to AISPA in the UK; to Julia in Germany (we are all waiting for the results
of your PhD on early spaying and neutering); to Gazan Foundation, Elisabeth
Rentschler Foundation, Mrs. Wechsler, Rosanna, Tierambulanz-Verein and Messerli
Foundation in Switzerland; super thanks to the American organizations “Friends of
Roman Cats” and “Humane Society International”. Special thanks to our Italian
sponsors, especially Mrs. Maria Lessona Fasano, Mrs. Rosolino and Mrs. Troise.
We are all very grateful for the untiring work of Andrea and Claudi who manage our
home pages in three languages and help whenever I ask for. And naturally a special
thank to all staff members of LEGA PRO ANIMALE: Isabella, Giovanni (we all hope
that you will be healthy soon!), Margherita ; to the vets Gigi, Lorenzo and Giuliano and
to the dedicated volunteers Michelangelo, Teresa, Dora, Rosa and all the others who
give us a hand that we reach our goal:
BUSY GIRLS ….
Left to right: Erika, Fabiana, Antonella, Claudia and Amelie: Lupa
loves it to be groomed and all LPA-animals are very thankful for this
“new” attention!
BUSY HELPERS!
Angela and Kristie deliver a donation of $ 700 from the
American Country Store to Dorothea to finance the
spaying/neutering of all these stray cats on the American
Base. SUPER THANKS!!!
EACH DOG AND CAT HAS A CARING OWNER!
No more dogs and cats living permanently in the streets or in overcrowded kennels!
Michelnangelo (left, he volunteers in
our centre nearly every Sunday) and
Cinzia (right) are treating the wood
round the flowers.
Thanks for this wonderful help!!!