An ambulance dedicated to rescuing animals across the entire country: this is Lav's new and significant initiative for the care and protection of our four-legged friends.
Lav, the Lega Anti Vivisezione, which campaigns for the recognition of animal rights and against every form of exploitation of animals, has set in motion another excellent national initiative: the veterinary ambulance, equipped with the tools needed to make it a fully fledged "mobile surgery", capable of providing assistance across the whole of Italy in natural disaster situations and as part of specific projects aimed at managing emergencies in individual regions.
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The first Lav ambulance will operate across the entire national territory and be deployed in rescuing animals in the event of natural disasters. The association has also set up an emergency unit and signed an agreement with the national Civil Protection Department for projects aimed at tackling the stray dog and cat problem in southern Italy — the area most affected by the phenomenon of abandonment — in support of municipal and voluntary activities. The ambulance will also be able to assist with sterilisation activities and will be used for "microchipping" initiatives, including in locations far from public veterinary facilities.
The Lav ambulance is fitted with highly advanced, purpose-built veterinary equipment. Cages, carriers, stretchers, oxygen sources, cardiovascular monitoring equipment, pulmonary ventilation apparatus and much more, all to ensure that animals in distress can receive the most effective veterinary care in the event of injury or pre-existing illness. The project was made possible by the solidarity SMS campaign "L'arrivo dell'ambulanza dipende da te" ("The ambulance's arrival depends on you"), run in collaboration with Rai Responsabilità Sociale, which hosted the Lav initiative on its channels from 24 to 30 June 2019. An initiative that, it is to be hoped, will be repeated in order to guarantee domestic and wild animals protection and assistance in emergency situations.