The relationship between pets and humans is something ancient, that dates back a long time. An almost symbiotic relationship that has created a bond of respect and complicity. Pets have been able to reciprocate by becoming trusted friends.
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And even in public offices there have been cases of stray cats or dogs “adopted” by employees who, doing a good deed, gave them shelter and food. It was considered normal to see cats and dogs wandering around municipal offices, or in schools or even in the post office. They became the “mascot” of the place, cuddled and cared for by everyone. And no one cared about who “paid” for the food or who had to clean because they were part of the reality of that place and everyone more or less took on the burden.
There was still a certain “naivety” in doing actions without thinking too much about the consequences, it was first of all a good action, you were saving an animal from danger and hunger. And instead today we have arrived at the point where a simple good action can become a burden, a problem, an expense.
Even in Naples over the years there have been stories of cats and dogs adopted by offices. It is the story of “micione”, the cat of the Garibaldi Barracks in Naples that has become emblematic precisely to tell a reality in which today there are probably many public offices.
This cat was brought years ago by a judge who, since he could not keep him at home, decided to take him to his office: it was an ideal place for the cat with many empty rooms, open spaces with lots of greenery and indoor shelter.
The cat was called “Garibaldi”, and found the Barracks the ideal place to grow and live. And so did his children, and from generation to generation they became, after years, an army of cats. A problem, in short.
They have become too many to handle, it is no longer just one cat, but a colony of many specimens. The cleaning staff, unable to take care of them any longer, protested to the management of the Court. To "fix" the matter, the magistrates intervened, to find an effective solution to the problem. But this is not a "problem", they are living beings. They cannot be "regulated" by law.
And by the way, these cats do not represent a problem for everyone; in fact, some lawyers who have grown fond of the little felines over the years have “rebelled” against the idea that they are captured to do who knows what with them.
If you consider that in Naples it is not easy to find “cat shelters”, and that it took many years to have a municipal dog kennel, it is normal that one does not trust a solution of this kind.
But what does the law say about this matter? According to the regional law, which regulates the management of the matter, free cats like Garibaldi belong to “the Mayor”, who delegates (by unwritten tradition but repeated from administration to administration) to the ASL Veterinaria the decisions regarding the cats, management and movements.
But there is a but: the ASL, which is then mainly responsible, as it is competent, for veterinary care and sterilizations that the law defines as mandatory (and this is the only right thing), does not deal with management.
In practice, the cats are entirely on the shoulders of volunteers: to feed them, you need tons of biscuits, which cost on average about €40 for 10 kilos of good quality; cleaning the places where they live (since the cleaners refuse "to clean the cats' dirt" because it is not included in the contract); then there are the treatments and sterilizations.
In this situation everything becomes difficult, not to mention the Neapolitan mentality that is always divided on everything, never uniting in anything.
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