Combating the phenomenon of strays and dog pounds in Calabria

Calabria is one of the regions of Italy with the least amount of available information concerning stray dogs/pounds, and this absence of data is a source of deep concern.
The reports we have been getting from volunteers and local associations are alarming, and if the state of healthcare in Calabria is well known for being the most chaotic in the country, one can only imagine the conditions the dog pounds must be in.
This is what we do know:

• the number of dogs in pounds providing sanitary care at the end of 2017 was reported as being 14,599 (LAV Report 2018): no data has been provided by the region since that time. This number does not include the plethora of unaffiliated/unauthorized shelters and privately-owned stables, of which we know there are a multitude
• almost 6,000 animals are confined in kennels in the area of Crotone, where no less than two facilities exceed the permitted capacity of 2,000 animals
• the exact number of the thousands of animals who were admitted to the pounds providing sanitary care and dog shelters between 2018 and 2020 is unknown
• we do not know the exact number of animals enrolled on the official dog registry, but the latest report by Legambiente Animali in Città (Animals in the City) indicates 1 dog in 13 (the national average is 1 in 6)
• in 2019, the total number of adoptions was 1492, almost exclusively in the North of Italy
• the annual expenditure on stray dogs is in the region of 20 million Euros, and this is almost entirely devoted to the maintenance of dogs kept in pounds

Partners in the project: Associazioni Amici Animali FEF (FEF Animal Friends Association in Cosenza) and Oasi Argo (Argo Adoption Association in Crotone)
Local Authority Partners: we will contact the Mayors of the municipalities involved and – once the commission has been granted – the authorized Councilor
Beneficiaries: stray dogs; neighborhood dogs; privately-owned dogs; dogs accommodated at the Oasi Argo sanctuary
Area concerned: the 20 municipalities of the province of Cosenza
Operations: dog sterilization; microchipping; raising of general awareness with the diffusion of ad hoc publicity material
Period: March 2021 – Present

RESULTS OF THE PROJECT

107
dogs
on census