The Commander of the Provincial Police Michele Pellegrini wishes to clarify the case concerning the installation of nets to hinder access to swallow’s nests in a condominium located in Via della Gualchiera, in the Municipality of Prato:
“The networks were installed in January without any prior authorization from us. It emerged from our investigations that the authorization request was presented only in February, therefore after the installation of the networks. This is a fundamental point to underline, since no formal authorization was granted from our part.
Subsequently, we received several reports and expressed our opinion on the matter, as also done by the Municipal Police and the Forestry Carabinieri.
In consideration of the fact that the legislation prohibits the destruction of swallow’s nests – while in the specific case the nests were not destroyed but made inaccessible via the nets – before proceeding with the sanction I asked the Municipality of Prato for a formal opinion, as it falls within within its jurisdiction the Regulation for the welfare and protection of animals.
We exposed the situation and asked for an opinion on the application of the sanction and its regularity, based on the regulation.
The Municipality thus issued a warning for the removal of the nets, consequently we proceeded with the report and the related sanction.
It should be noted that the nets were positioned only on a limited number (5-6) of nests, while there are around 20 more in the condominium. This means that the swallows still have the possibility of finding available nests a few meters away. The nets were installed because the presence of the nests near the windows of the building was creating hygiene and cleanliness problems for the residents.
An appeal has been lodged against our report, and we are awaiting decisions on the matter. If the competent administrative authority confirms the decision, the responsible citizen will have to pay the fine and remove the nets.”
Source: Press Office
