The Guarantor of Animal Rights Paola Brambilla concludes his second term. And it does so with the traditional report that establishes the main activities that the Guarantor has conducted over the years of its commitment to the city and its animals, which are truly many.
Wild animal bread? Better not
In Bergamo, in fact, there are currently almost 18 thousand pets registered in the registry, 12,666 dogs and 5,096 cats registered. The city also has 90 cat colonies monitored on its municipal territory, for a total of 725 cats registered, of which 707 are microchipped and sterilised.
737 reports and requests were handled via email, 93 reports via Messenger, kept active weekly (also thanks to the voluntary collaboration of Sofia de Meo) through the Facebook page to disseminate information, regulations, contribute to the search for lost animals and highlight successes achieved.
Also because, explains the Guarantor, there is often misinformation: giving bread to swans, mallards and ducks can lead to the death of the animals, often then attributed by the citizens themselves to poor care by the Municipality, which is instead aware that wild animals should never be fed, while domesticated species (such as swans) are fed with special feed by the Municipal Offices. From here, small and targeted communication campaigns also emerged, designed specifically to protect these animals in some city parks.
Animal rescues and seizures
Over the course of these years, among the dozens of cases, a difficult case of compulsive accumulation of things and animals was resolved, with the help of neighbors, volunteers from a zoophile association, local police and ATS: a young labrador – in delicate psychophysical health conditions marked by unhealthy detention – was recovered and therefore definitively entrusted to a responsible person.
An important victory was also achieved at the TAR, which rejected the appeal of a dog association in favor of the use of the choke collar which had challenged the municipal regulation, which instead prohibits it (except in the cases provided for by law).
Multiple seizures have been made of dogs and cats held in inhumane conditions, or victims of mistreatment: one of the most emblematic cases is that of a Cane Corso tied with chains tightened around its neck, in revenge, to the shutters of a commercial establishment and with its paws tied with adhesive tape, right under the office where the Guarantor practices her legal profession. He is now fostered at the dog shelter awaiting a regular adoption.
For this intense and careful activity to protect animals, in 2021 Bergamo achieved the 3rd national prize in the 9th Legambiente national report “Animals in the City”.
