Vicenza: mistreated dog, owner reported. The animal was locked in a cage much smaller than its size

Locked in a cage much smaller than its anatomical and physiological characteristics. This was the condition in which a medium-sized dog, an American Staffordshire Terrier, had to live, seized in recent days by the local police, urban police sector - health - ecology, with the consequent complaint of the animal's owner for mistreatment.

«A special thanks to the local police – the words of the municipal councilor delegated for the protection and well-being of domestic animals Luca Poncato -, not only for the work done on this occasion, but for all those times that he intervenes for the protection of animals. A thank you also for the precious work that the Zoofile Guards do in activities of absolute volunteerism, without even the reimbursement of fuel costs. Interventions that, in many cases, have led to saving animals that were in very serious situations».

The intervention of the officers occurred after a report arrived at the command, made by a private citizen. The person reported the presence of the animal locked in a cage located on the landing of a condominium, in Strada di Settecà. After several checks by the local police, the first of which was carried out together with ENPA, the seizure of the animal and the cage, and the complaint against the owner of the dog, ZH, a 24 year old man, resident in the city. The officers in fact ascertained that the Terrier had been subjected to unbearable behavior and fatigue for some time: hence the hypothesis of the crime of mistreatment (article 544 ter of the Penal Code).

When the order was communicated, the 24-year-old resisted the officers who intervened on the scene, even trying to walk away with the dog: the intervention of the local police ended without consequences. The animal was recovered by the veterinary service of Ulss 8 Berica, and is now at the health kennel. If the seizure is released, the Terrier will be taken to the municipal kennel.

In terms of reports relating to animals, in the city and in the province, the Vicenza Nucleus of Zoofile Guards, made up of 16 decreed guards, received 2022 reports in the three-year period of activity 2024 - 3.470, of which 3260 were processed. Instead, 129 reports and communications of crimes were sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office while the sanctions imposed for administrative violations were 89. The animals seized (dogs, cats, birds and other pets) were 986, and the subjects convicted of crimes against animals were 96. The kilometers traveled for the activity of the guards were 56.320.