On social media he himself had denounced the brutal poisoning of his dogs. Three beautiful three Irish Setters killed with a massive dose of rat poison. «The circle is narrowing, you have left traces. You disgust me”, wrote Marco Battellini, a well-known 64-year-old lawyer from Macerata, on his Facebook profile on 6 February 2021. Accompanying the complaint is the photo of the three dead dogs in the garden path of his home in Sirolo.
A serious episode reported with great indignation. It’s a shame that at the end of a thorough investigation by the Ancona forestry police, suspicions focused precisely on him. So much so that the lawyer ended up on trial and now risks up to six years in prison. In the first hearing, a few days ago, the judge concluded the trial and also accepted the request constitution of a civil party by Lav and of Enpa. «The picture that has emerged so far is horrifying – declared the national president of Enpa Carla Rocchi – if he is really the culprit we expect exemplary punishments».
Next October 21st the presentation of the numerous evidence against the lawyer Battellini will begin and the parade of the first texts will begin. The evidence collected by the forestry police is extensive and all of it would seem to confirm the responsibility of the lawyer Battellini. After that post of February 6, 2021, it was the military themselves who turned to him for clarification on the serious episode reported. And in particular they had asked to be able to see the dead dogs. But the man had said he had them galready sent to an incineration facility. This is where the first suspicions arose: why have the dogs incinerated and not file a formal complaint? The police arrived just in time before all traces of the poisoning were erased. Because the autopsy revealed that the dogs had a massive, evenly distributed dose of rat poison mixed with chicken in their bodies.
Subsequent investigations confirmed that it was the lawyer Battellini who had bought that poison in a shop in the area, who justified himself by saying that he had only bought it because he feared having rats in his garden. He rejects all accusations and is amused by the words of a colleague, the lawyer Giovanni Bora. «He actually bought that poison just to keep mice away», says lawyer Bora. And then he points out: «We are talking about three wonderful setters to whom he and his daughters were very close. Why would he suppress them? – asks the lawyer. Among other things, they also have a fair economic value and some time ago a lady wanted to buy one of the three. Why not sell them instead of getting rid of them in that horrible way?’ The lawyer believes that during the trial “the colleague’s absolute innocence” will be demonstrated and if anything leaves room for the hypothesis “that perhaps the dogs accidentally ingested the poison”.
Lawyer Battellini has a very extroverted personality and is very active on social media where he does not hide his sympathies for the right as well as being a representative of the Guard of honor at the royal tombs of the Pantheon. As a convinced anti-vaxer, he even came to suspect that the killing of his dogs was a retaliatory gesture for his ideas. For the moment he must defend himself from the accusation that he was the one who killed the three setters. The father Max, 6 years old, and the two children Hermes and Diva, 2 years old. The penalty for killing an animal is 2 years which, being 3, can go up to 6 years
