If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
Rules aimed at protecting animals' rights are praised by activists, but
can the city really enforce them? By Tracy Wilkinson Times Staff Writer November 9, 2005 ROME * In the greater animal kingdom, the plight of the little goldfish is especially harsh. The tiny creatures are scooped into plastic bags and awarded at carnivals and fairs. They are confined to bowls where they can do nothing but swim around and around. Some (it has been claimed) go blind. No more. The municipal government of Rome has entered waters where few city halls dare tread. Under a new ordinance, the city's goldfish are entitled to a proper, full-sized aquarium, and they can no longer be given out as contest prizes. The rules were drafted by the city of Rome's Office for Animal Rights. The 59-point statute ordering better treatment for all pets, from cats and dogs to birds and lizards, was approved by the City Council last month and will go into effect today. The unusually strict measure is winning plaudits from animal rights activists, snarls from pet shop owners and puzzlement from all quarters about whether it can be enforced. City officials, though, said it was time to take a stand. "We needed to send a strong message: Pets are not objects," said Cristina Bedini, an 11-year veteran of the animal rights office. "We are saying that owning a pet is a joy, but it is also a duty. Responsible ownership is the only way to fight cruelty." The fish-bowl rule may win Rome a humanitarian award from the Fish Empathy Project of PETA, the international animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Rome has gone above and beyond anything we've seen anywhere else," spokeswoman Karin Robertson said in a telephone interview. For all animals, the Italian capital's new ordinance is more restrictive than anything in the United States, PETA said in a statement. In addition to affording protection for fish, the measure requires dog owners to walk their canines daily or face a $625 fine. It also bans the display of pets for sale in store windows, and gives legal recognition to Rome's famous gattare, the "cat ladies" who feed an army of strays. Also forbidden: choke and electrical collars and, for dogs and cats, declawing and the clipping of tails and ears for cosmetic reasons. "Rome has taken a historic step for animal rights," said Gianluca Felicetti, an activist with one of Italy's main animal-welfare organizations. "It will help people to know that animals have a right to respect and to their ethological necessities." Bedini and city officials met with police to discuss the ordinance and how to see that it is obeyed, and a team of street cops will undergo specialized training to better understand the needs of animals. Even police officers frequently don't recognize animal abuse, Bedini said, and they must be taught what constitutes mistreatment. But Italy is a land of many laws and its own form of lawlessness. Can police really know whether someone has given proper living quarters to his goldfish? And how can the frequency of dog-walking actually be monitored? "We have the most beautiful laws in the world, and nobody enforces them," said Silvia Viviani, a retired opera soprano who co-founded the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary, a home for some 250 strays. It is one of an estimated 800 cat "colonies" in Rome that the new measure aims to protect by forbidding construction projects from displacing their feline residents. Despite her reservations about enforcement, Viviani praised the statute. She only wished it went further, to include mandatory sterilization of cats and dogs * something, she says, that is still resisted in Italy because of machismo. Bedini said enforcement will rely more on education than police action. To catch fish-bowl violators, for example, "I don't think police will be going door to door." Pet awareness is an evolving culture in Italy, she said, adding that the ordinance reflects a growing sensitivity among Roman citizens to the plight of their four-legged * and un-legged, finned, winged and otherwise evolved * friends. Bedini proudly notes that shelters here no longer euthanize animals. A national law exists that criminalizes the abandoning of pets, and many cities have their own animal-welfare regulations and officials to enforce them. Despite all this, many Italians who tire of pets will not hesitate to dump them on a roadside. Animal rights groups estimate that abandoned pets in Italy include 150,000 dogs and 200,000 cats. Better care for goldfish, Bedini said, will require a change in mentality. Many parents like their children to play the carnival games that offer pets as prizes, which in turn teach them to care for living creatures. But the conditions are often less than desirable and the mortality rate high. Enza Trapani, a manicurist and mother, knows the difficulties. She bought a goldfish for her 8-year-old son, Valerio, but it died after a couple of weeks. A second one died after about six months. She gave up and now has a turtle and a cat. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
"PawsForThought" wrote in message oups.com... Rules aimed at protecting animals' rights are praised by activists, but can the city really enforce them? [snips article] I saw this and wondered the same thing. I think it just amounts to a "nice gesture" until there are signs that it has been enforced in some way. Thanks for posting this, Lauren. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
PawsForThought wrote: Rules aimed at protecting animals' rights are praised by activists, but can the city really enforce them? By Tracy Wilkinson Times Staff Writer November 9, 2005 ROME * In the greater animal kingdom, the plight of the little goldfish is especially harsh. The tiny creatures are scooped into plastic bags and awarded at carnivals and fairs. They are confined to bowls where they can do nothing but swim around and around. Some (it has been claimed) go blind. No more. The municipal government of Rome has entered waters where few city halls dare tread. Under a new ordinance, the city's goldfish are entitled to a proper, full-sized aquarium, and they can no longer be given out as contest prizes. The rules were drafted by the city of Rome's Office for Animal Rights. The 59-point statute ordering better treatment for all pets, from cats and dogs to birds and lizards, was approved by the City Council last month and will go into effect today. The unusually strict measure is winning plaudits from animal rights activists, snarls from pet shop owners and puzzlement from all quarters about whether it can be enforced. City officials, though, said it was time to take a stand. "We needed to send a strong message: Pets are not objects," said Cristina Bedini, an 11-year veteran of the animal rights office. "We are saying that owning a pet is a joy, but it is also a duty. Responsible ownership is the only way to fight cruelty." The fish-bowl rule may win Rome a humanitarian award from the Fish Empathy Project of PETA, the international animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Rome has gone above and beyond anything we've seen anywhere else," spokeswoman Karin Robertson said in a telephone interview. For all animals, the Italian capital's new ordinance is more restrictive than anything in the United States, PETA said in a statement. In addition to affording protection for fish, the measure requires dog owners to walk their canines daily or face a $625 fine. It also bans the display of pets for sale in store windows, and gives legal recognition to Rome's famous gattare, the "cat ladies" who feed an army of strays. Also forbidden: choke and electrical collars and, for dogs and cats, declawing and the clipping of tails and ears for cosmetic reasons. "Rome has taken a historic step for animal rights," said Gianluca Felicetti, an activist with one of Italy's main animal-welfare organizations. "It will help people to know that animals have a right to respect and to their ethological necessities." Bedini and city officials met with police to discuss the ordinance and how to see that it is obeyed, and a team of street cops will undergo specialized training to better understand the needs of animals. Even police officers frequently don't recognize animal abuse, Bedini said, and they must be taught what constitutes mistreatment. But Italy is a land of many laws and its own form of lawlessness. Can police really know whether someone has given proper living quarters to his goldfish? And how can the frequency of dog-walking actually be monitored? "We have the most beautiful laws in the world, and nobody enforces them," said Silvia Viviani, a retired opera soprano who co-founded the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary, a home for some 250 strays. It is one of an estimated 800 cat "colonies" in Rome that the new measure aims to protect by forbidding construction projects from displacing their feline residents. Despite her reservations about enforcement, Viviani praised the statute. She only wished it went further, to include mandatory sterilization of cats and dogs * something, she says, that is still resisted in Italy because of machismo. Bedini said enforcement will rely more on education than police action. To catch fish-bowl violators, for example, "I don't think police will be going door to door." Pet awareness is an evolving culture in Italy, she said, adding that the ordinance reflects a growing sensitivity among Roman citizens to the plight of their four-legged * and un-legged, finned, winged and otherwise evolved * friends. Bedini proudly notes that shelters here no longer euthanize animals. A national law exists that criminalizes the abandoning of pets, and many cities have their own animal-welfare regulations and officials to enforce them. Despite all this, many Italians who tire of pets will not hesitate to dump them on a roadside. Animal rights groups estimate that abandoned pets in Italy include 150,000 dogs and 200,000 cats. Better care for goldfish, Bedini said, will require a change in mentality. Many parents like their children to play the carnival games that offer pets as prizes, which in turn teach them to care for living creatures. But the conditions are often less than desirable and the mortality rate high. Enza Trapani, a manicurist and mother, knows the difficulties. She bought a goldfish for her 8-year-old son, Valerio, but it died after a couple of weeks. A second one died after about six months. She gave up and now has a turtle and a cat. So true about goldfish in small tanks. I learned a few years back that a goldfish actually needs 10 GALLONS of water (each!). They produce a great deal of waste, and the water becomes toxic to them quite quickly. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
PawsForThought wrote: Rules aimed at protecting animals' rights are praised by activists, but can the city really enforce them? Good for Rome. Having a law is the first step. -L. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
-L. wrote: PawsForThought wrote: Rules aimed at protecting animals' rights are praised by activists, but can the city really enforce them? Good for Rome. Having a law is the first step. -L. I believe that more and more, animals will gain the protection they need. There are too many weirdos in the world The odd thing is, some people kill animals as a matter of religion. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
"whitershadeofpale" wrote:
-L. wrote: PawsForThought wrote: Rules aimed at protecting animals' rights are praised by activists, but can the city really enforce them? Good for Rome. Having a law is the first step. -L. I believe that more and more, animals will gain the protection they need. There are too many weirdos in the world The odd thing is, some people kill animals as a matter of religion. I find most things done for religion odd. -mhd |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
3 things in this world beside women that are not made to be understood
Religion Sex Politics |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
.... No More Retail wrote: 3 things in this world beside women that are not made to be understood Religion Sex Politics or... A ship at sea A serpent on a rock And, a man with his virgin |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Declawing etc Illegal in Rome
wrote in message ... I find most things done for religion odd. Just think, in 1 or 2 thousand years, the people will look back at us and our religions the same way we look back at the ancient Romans and Greeks and their religions with all their gods and goddesses and wonder how we could have been so stupid. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Hooray Rome! | CatNipped | Cat anecdotes | 8 | October 25th 05 11:52 PM |
Article: Cat who put owner in hospital from bite wounds to be destroyed. | kaeli | Cat health & behaviour | 126 | May 17th 04 02:26 PM |
Laser declaw? Huh? | stlibf | Cat health & behaviour | 160 | January 23rd 04 03:41 PM |
Unbelievable BS! WRT declawing from the SFVMA | [email protected] | Cat health & behaviour | 6 | September 29th 03 04:04 PM |
OMG! One more reason to NOT declaw... | Sherry | Cat health & behaviour | 374 | August 22nd 03 08:38 PM |