TO Catanzaro mount the case onorder of controversy. The reference is to the Municipal Administration document which illustrates the bathing rules for the 2024 summer season. The greatest attention is paid to the beach access time limit for dogswhich raised the ire of the group leader of the League to the Municipality, Eugenio Riccio.
“That the Fiorita administration uses an iron fist with the “weak” while ignoring the “strong” is now evident to all the citizens of Catanzaro, forced to live with situations of total anarchy on a daily basis: illegal commercial activity thrives in every neighborhood from north to south of the city, with record peaks on the seafront, traffic and urban decay not monitored or sanctioned, not to mention the hundreds of demolition orders, many of which issued by the judicial authority, which remain closed in dusty drawers out of cowardice or lack of respect for legality on the part of those who should carry them out”Riccio says in a note.
“Easy, then, for Mayor Fiorita to implement ridiculous bans that are difficult to enforce. The latest pearl, in chronological order, is the recent “bathing ordinance” which, in addition to not being in line on some fundamental aspects relating to “bathing” with that issued by the Port Authority of Soverato (serious omission or oversight? ), imposes disconcerting bans. For example, the ban on smoking on the beach. While this may seem like a good initiative, we wonder how it will be enforced. We dare to imagine the presence on our beaches of the iron-fisted councilor in charge of safety, Marinella Giordano, who will give up her summer stay in Caminia ready to fine every smoker. Mayor Fiorita also imposed a ban on sales and trade on the beach, hitting the famous “vu cumprà” (so much for Lucano and social inclusion)”.
Dogs on the beach
“Ridiculous, considering that no one enforces this ban on the seafront, let alone on the beach. But the culmination is reached with the “categorical and imperative for all” ban on take dogs to the beach, with Fiorita & company putting themselves on a par with the “hierarchs and mayors” of the infamous twenty years. Given that there is no state law that prohibits bringing your pet to the beach, we wonder why there is so much hatred towards our four-legged friends. What’s the problem if the owners keep them under the umbrella with all precautions? And what is the logic of confining owners and fur babies in a few square meters of beach in Giovino close to a rainwater collection channel where the ordinance of the Soverato harbor office provides for a ban on bathing?”, the Northern League member still asks.
The attack on the Councilor
“This umpteenth “pearl” is probably the work of the councilor for animal protection, Nunzio Belcaro, who, worried about the lack of protective creams for our four-legged friends, will have spent too much to impose this ban. Practically a series of bans that seem to come out of a Walt Disney cartoon rather than from a serious administration that respects pet rights.”
“An ordinance that absolutely needs to be reviewed with common sense and reason, because it is probably illegitimate as it does not provide for the amount of sanctions for violators and the reasons that led to the ban. An ordinance that will remove holidaymakers from Lido – already not many – who in past years have never had problems bringing their dogs to the beach. For this reason we invite Mayor Fiorita, if not engaged in some boat excursion, between a glass of champagne and a Lucanian amaro, to find the time to take a tour of the free beaches of his beloved Soverato, where dogs are welcome and they contribute, thanks to their owners, to increasing tourist flows in the pearl of the Ionian Sea”Riccio’s note ends.
Belcaro’s response
The response from the Administration was not long in coming, with the same Councilor Belcaro which he replied. The Mayor Fioritathen, he relaunched the intervention, saying “enough with fake news”. “Catanzaro and its beaches are absolutely “dog friendly”, obviously respecting the rules, civility and animal welfare. It is absolutely false that the bathing ordinance denies owners and handlers of pets (especially dogs) the possibility of not being separated from their friends during the holidays. Our ordinance is absolutely in line with what has been established in the most famous Italian seaside resorts”, Belcaro specifies.
The times
“Consider that dog access to all free beaches (which we have limited from 6am to 7.30am and from 7.30pm to sunset) on the Romagna Riviera is permitted from 6am to 8am and from 6.40pm to 9pm and in Sardinia only from 8pm to 8am, therefore only at night. Ours, contrary to what is falsely and irresponsibly stated, is a highly animalist and environmentalist ordinance which protects the well-being of dogs who cannot be exposed to the sun’s rays for long, but also raises the problem of safeguarding the possible nesting of “caretta caretta” sea turtles. In fact, we have established an absolute ban on the use of mechanical means in the Special Area of Conservation where such events are highly probable. But let’s see, point by point, how dogs can be taken to the beach.”
The rules in detail
“GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND AND RESCUE DOGS – Guide dogs for the blind and rescue dogs, obviously on a leash and up to date with registry and vaccinations and with the obligation to remove excrement, have no limitations.
ACCESS TO ALL FREE BEACHES– It is allowed in certain time slots: from 6 to 7.30 and from 7.30 to sunset, obviously in compliance with the rules.
FREE BAU-BEACH – No time limitations in the “bau -beach” established 100 meters from the last bathing establishment in the Giovino area, always in compliance with the rules: microchip, vaccinations, leash no longer than 1.50 m, muzzle, equipment for removing excrement. It is forbidden to let dogs rest on the shoreline and expose dogs to solar heat.
ACCESS OF DOGS TO BEACH FACILITIES – No limitations in “dog friendly” bathing establishments which will have to set up a special delimited area, equipped with a water tank and a cover to protect the animals from the sun’s rays. The establishments will have to display a sign indicating this possibility and require all the documentation from the dog owners, with particular attention to vaccinations.
PRESENCE OF OWNERS IN THE WATER WHILE BATHING DOGS – An essential point, to protect the safety of bathers and the animals themselves, is the presence of the owners or handlers when the dogs are bathing. In other words, it is not permitted to leave pets freely in the water.
“As is evident, no restrictions, no senseless limitations, since there are many possibilities for bringing dogs to the beach. If the animal rights associations suggest improvements to the ordinance, obviously without distorting its contents, we will be happy to welcome them. It is only regrettable that on this occasion too, as already happened for the Blue Flag, every pretext is used to smear the Administration with colossal lies, without even considering the problem of smearing our City and our Lido, damaging our tourism operators. with shameful smear campaigns”concludes Belcaro.
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