Rita Dalla Chiesa against RAI for the dog Gennarino in Affari Tuoi: «Diseducational message, animals are not treated like that»

It was one of the controversies relating to the public television service that held the most attention: that of the presence of the dog Gennarino ad Your businessthe Rai1 program hosted by Stefano De Martino. She was inspired by another TV woman, now a parliamentarian: Rita Dalla Chiesa. Who contested the exploitation of the poor animal forced to perform activities that were unnatural for him. This is how we told it in the “hot” days of the controversy. Which then died out, but the theme remains (as does Gennarino in the cast of the program): is it right to exploit animals for live shows?

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Gennarinothe dog he has been accompanying for a few days Stefano De Martino in Your businessis becoming a star. His appearances among the packages are also becoming popular on social media. But in reality he has been a star for some time because of his real name Sevenhas already participated in many television commercials and also had a role in the series about the commissioner Rocco Schiavonewhere she plays Lupa, the dog played by the policeman Marco Giallini he finds it abandoned on the street and then decides to keep it with him. But the presence of the Jack Russell in the Rai program now risks becoming a political case. And to raise it is a person who has done a lot with TV: Rita Dalla Chiesawho today is vice-president of the deputies of Forza Italia and who in the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi has responsibility for the Animal Welfare Department. The parliamentarian says no to the presence of an entertainment dog in a program that airs every day, thus forcing the animal to repeatedly adopt unnatural behaviors.

«It is disappointing – writes the deputy in a note – to witness the use of clearly trained animals in public service programmes, as is happening on Rai 1 in the broadcast Your business. This is an outdated method, among other things contrary to the growing cultural sensitivity on the topic of animal welfare. This is obviously without talking about mistreatment.” The dog’s presence on TV ends up throwing, according to the former presenter of Foruma very wrong message: «In recent months we have been strongly supporting all the battles to overcome the use of animals in circuses and shows. An expected measure that would mark a fundamental step: recognizing the animal as be sentient and not as an entertainment tool bent to exclusively economic and entertainment logics.”

It is not the first time that a dog has participated in a television program and Dalla Chiesa is aware of this. «We are not saying that puppies or other animals should no longer appear on television – he specifies -. They are a strong point especially appreciated by children. The point is dignity. Forcing them to pray, bow or bark on command is one clearly distorting practice for them. Television is a powerful medium: if it can offer the public the company of an animal in a natural and respectful way, so be it.” And he cites, in this regard, the example of the dogs in the study The news spreads, so there has never been any controversy. But those, he highlights, “move freely and at the end of the transmission they are adopted”.

In short, every situation is different and the difference is made precisely by whether the animals are “guests” or whether they are actually forced to work. Hence the stance against public television. «We find it unacceptable that RAI itself, which in the past has often anticipated the country’s cultural changes, is today clearly behind the times – says the deputy, who is also a member of the parliamentary Intergroup for animal rights -. We ask the company to reconsider and I will bring the matter to the attention of the Parliamentary Oversight Committeeso that the public service reflects on its role and promotes, as happens today among the majority of the public, a new ethical awareness towards animals”.

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December 30, 2025 (modified December 30, 2025 | 2.44 pm)

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