OUR VISIT TO AN ANIMAL SHELTER

1. OUR VISIT TO AN ANIMAL SHELTER APE – ITIS PININFARINA

2. On 31st March 2011, classes 3CM and 3CT' students visited "Rifugio Ramondetti Cassardo di Trofarello", a private animal shelter. (http://www.rifugiotrofarello.org/home.htm). Mr Paolo welcomed us, showed us the structure, brought some dogs out of their boxes for us and kindly answered all our questions in a very professional way. Here's the report of our visit, but "before moving a further pace" we'd like to thank heartily Mrs Ramondetti Cassardo and Mr Paolo for their hospitality and kindness and for the greatwill they have shown through the years in the help and relief of stray animals' situation and "living creatures" in general. As a matter of fact, they have already found "a house" to 7.000 dogs which have been adopted in this shelter!

3. 1) How many dogs are there in this shelter? In this shelter there are 60 dogs at present, but it has hosted up to 150 dogs, while the state shelters can host up to 300 dogs. Each dog has its own single box to avoid possible fights among the dogs hosted in the same box. On the other hand if the "abandoned" dogs are brothers or they have lived together until their abandonment, they are allowed to stay together in the same box, to contrast loneliness. 2) How many dogs are adopted per year? The shelter shows an "active balance": every dog which enters the shelter is usually adopted during the year. The shelter has already given home to 7.000 dogs about. The 2 fundamental components in the adoption process as far as the dog choice is concerned are: the size of the dog and its age. People prefer small and young dogs, particularly because of the fact that they live in a flat and then because they think old dogs may die quite soon. This isn't true because a ten-year-old dog may live other 5-6 years while a young dog may die after a few years. As a consequence there is no definite age to adopt a dog. Unfortunately old big-size dogs don't find an owner very easily and their destiny is to die in the shelter.

5. 3)Where do the dogs come from? • There are 2 main channels: • Lost dogs found in the streets, whose owner can't be detected because the dog hasn't been microchipped as foreseen by the law. The situation of “lager shelters” is another important point: when a shelter of this kind is spotted by the police, the dogs are transferred to other shelters. • Dogs which suffer from our human social problems: divorces, separations, imprisonments, deaths. In particular divorces are cause for abandonment: the couple argues on the ownership of the dog and each component refuses to keep it in revenge against the partner and the dog is used as an object for their quarrel. • 4) What happens if the dog isn’t adopted? • Once dogs were killed after 3 days from their finding, but since the enforcement of law 281/91 dated 14th August 1991 it has been forbidden to kill the found/stray animals. In case they aren’t adopted, they will remain in the shelter until their death.

7. 5) What controls and vaccines does the dog receive when it arrives at the animal shelter? The dog’s health is checked by a vet and it receives the fundamental necessary vaccines, in particular “Lesmaniosys” is checked. If the microchip is not present, the dog is microchipped. Female dogs are sterilized, only dangerous male dogs are castrated. Then every three months ASL (State Health Office) controls the conditions of both the dogs and the structure, even if the shelter is privately run. In case the dog has the identification microchip or the tattoo, it must be transferred to the state shelter, where people in charge will contact the owner. 6) If a dog dies in the shelter, what happens? The ASL’s vet carries out an autopsy on the dog’s dead body to control the dog hasn’t received ill-treatment or caught a serious infective illness that could be transmitted to the other dogs. Then the dead body is burnt.

9. 7) What do dogs eat , how often do they eat and go out of their box during the day? They eat croquettes while the old dogs eat “wet meals” because they have lost the majority of their teeth. They eat twice a day, in the morning and late afternoon. Some volunteers take the dogs out of their boxes once or twice a day. They can run, play with balls and toys. 8) When and how are boxes cleaned? They are cleaned with a hydro-cleaner daily. We must keep in mind that the dogs prefer to “get free of their droppings” when they are out of their boxes, as a consequence, boxes are quite clean. 9) How much does the structure cost per year and where do funds come from? It’s difficult to fix a figure for the year cost of the structure. The food per dog is € 3,00 a day approx, the staff is mainly composed of volunteers, the major expenses are the veterinary ones and medicines. The structure doesn’t receive public funds because it "is" and "wants" to remain private. Being private it has wider possibility of action to help the dogs. To save money, the owner has invested on a photo-voltaic plant composed of solar panels that produce electricity for both light and heating. Each box is heated during winter. The funds come from private donations and from the choice of “the 5%oo” in the citizens’ tax declaration.

13. 10) What documents are necessary to adopt a dog? Are there further checks on the family once the dog has been adopted? • To adopt a dog you have to: • be of age • show identity card and state identification code • NB: nothing is due for adoption, no payment is required • After adoption the following controls are made: • if the dog’s breed is aggressive and the animal could be used in illegal dogs fights – for ex.: pitbull, Argentinian dogo, rottweiler • if the owner committed crimes during his past life • NB: the dogs can’t be sold; in case you want to transfer it as a present to someone else, you have to give official communication to the State register.

14. 3CM – 3CT ITIS PININFARINA