Keeping dogs on a chain is unfortunately legal in most of Italy
Environment — di Brunella Paciello
Chained dogs are still a sad common practice in many Italian regions. And the laws, where they exist, are often inadequate or poorly enforced.
Keeping dogs on a chain is unfortunately legal in most of Italy
Chained dogs are still a sad common practice in many Italian regions. And the laws, where they exist, are often inadequate or poorly enforced.
The news is shocking. Dogs in many Italian regions can still spend an entire, miserable life tied to a chain, with no freedom of movement or action. This is revealed by the report "Verso il divieto di tenere i cani alla catena" produced by startup Green impact and the NGO against stray animals Save the dogs and other animals. The report reviews Italian regional legislation and that of numerous European Union and non-EU states, revealing a disconcerting reality. And a clear violation of animal rights.
In Italy there are regions that on paper appear "virtuous", such as Umbria and Campania, and that clearly prohibit keeping dogs on chains. But in practice, the Campania region, for example, has made no provision for penalties, making the rule essentially unenforceable. Meanwhile Liguria, Basilicata and Sicily have not regulated the matter at all, leaving a regulatory vacuum.
A problem that persists
In our country, Emilia-Romagna was the first region to ban the use of chains for dogs, in 2013. It was followed by Abruzzo, Lombardy, Veneto and Puglia. "The need and urgency to revise, in the majority of Italian regions, the laws governing the keeping of dogs on chains are more than evident, as they are unclear and incapable of genuinely protecting animals," comments Sara Turetta, president of Save the dogs. Indeed, as the report notes, the environmental and social deprivation caused by the practice of keeping dogs permanently chained gives rise to abnormal, repetitive behaviours that serve no apparent purpose, known as "stereotypies", which are linked to a decline in the animal's welfare.
Studies carried out have revealed that dogs kept on chains display a range of stereotyped behaviours (for example, frantically pacing back and forth or compulsively spinning in circles) and more easily become hyper-reactive, frequently exhibiting manic attitudes. Indeed, chronic confinement in an environment devoid of stimuli, where animals cannot perform normal actions, causes direct brain damage. The keeping — because that is what it is! — of an animal on a chain thus becomes an extremely serious form of mistreatment that has a gravely damaging impact on the animal's entire existence.