«I believe there is a common thread which links the Marzabotto massacre to the cat massacres that are perpetrated every day in our country”, from Monzuno to Ravenna, from Lesignano de’ Bagni to Parma and Monfalcone and many, many other places in Emilia-Romagna and beyond. In some cases we can speak of a real “cat hunt”. During the city council meeting at Palazzo D’Accursio today, 29 April, and a few days after the Liberation celebrations, it is with these words that the Green city councilor in Bologna, and historic animal rights activist, Davide Celli, wanted to launch a unprecedented provocation going so far as to compare the Nazi-fascist massacre carried out on the Bolognese Apennines in 1944 with those which, as per his testimony, follow one another daily along the entire peninsula.
Celli and the hypothesis of a mafia network
At the base, a common consideration: «In both cases, the common denominator is violence – explained Celli – towards the weakest; on the one hand armed soldiers towards unarmed women and children, on the other, men armed with snares and poisons against helpless and defenseless cats.” But then, continuing with his reasoning, Celli came to hypothesize the existence of a mafia-style network capable of recruiting criminals on social media. The complaint from the councillor, the sole representative of the Greens in the city council and emerged from the majority after the disagreement with the mayor Matteo Lepore on the need for the screening of the pro-Russian film at Villa Paradiso last January (the straw that broke the camel’s back after the friction over the Besta schools affair), was corroborated by numerous examples and from various complaints received from environmental associations. First of all the case of the disappearance of hundreds of cats from Monzuno, in the Bologna area: «I thought it was an isolated case – Celli admitted today – but I was very wrong. Every day in many parts of our country cat hunting is practiced and unfortunately hunting is followed by disturbing and very assorted forms of torture: cats are beaten, poisoned, skinned, eviscerated, dismembered and their limbs reassembled.” In some cases, he then added, “the heads are displayed in city parks and quite often the cats are torn apart by the dogs”.
«Real militarily organized blitzes»
The animal rights associations, as the Green councilor then explained, are trying to do their utmost to combat this which, in no uncertain terms, is defined as a massacre, but it is still not enough: someone hired «pet detective», he added, to demonstrate the unfoundedness of theories linked to natural reasons for the death of cats, such as the presence of wolves in the territory. Another striking case raised was that of Ravenna, with disappearances of cats both from private gardens and from terraces of homes, but also from colonies: «One of the leaders of the Ravenna colonies was also threatened – Celli then continued –, so much so that he had to barricade himself in the house. It’s clear that behind all this there must be really dirty tricks.” «True militarily organized blitzes» to which not enough attention is being paid and which «are growing exponentially», Celli reiterated, before concluding: it would seem to be almost a «mafia-style network», which would recruit the perpetrators on social media among the most ardent and active animal haters. With a final alarm: «It has been widely demonstrated that acts of zoosadism on animals transfer very quickly to people. Once you learn to harm animals you can harm anyone.”
