With this petition we ask the aforementioned responsible institutions that the 15 stray dogs captured after the serious incident that took place on 15th March 2009 in the Municipality of Scicli  in which a child lost his life and, subsequently, a German tourist was horrifically mauled, not be put to death but entrusted to shelters capable of receiving them and re-educating them.

We are totally aware of the gravity of this episode and our hearts go out to the family of the child in this terrible time of loss and to the tourist still in hospital.  However, we assert that total responsibility for these incidents lie with the Municipality (Comune) and the Veterinary Services (AUSL), since, by law, the Municipality is responsible for the care and custody of all stray animals on its territory.  It is improbable that the aggression was carried out by the entire pack and it would not be helpful for these animals to now become the new victims and scapegoats for the inadequate measures taken by the Municipality.

It is far too easy to blame the animals and try to cover up the civil and penal responsibilities of the legal custodians of the dogs.  There is more than one Animal Rights group,  prepared to do their best to find a suitable shelter/refuge to take the dogs and, in doing so, avoid further problems.  At the same time it must be clear that if the Municipality of Scicli had adopted the necessary measures such as the systematic spaying/neutering of the animals on its territory to prevent the stray phenomenon and had had a policy of paying for and entrusting them to suitable dog shelters, all of this would never have happened. And in Italy, as stated before, the Mayor is ultimately responsible for all the animals on his Municipal territory.