An immediate resumption of the adoption of dogs and cats which, it goes without saying, have suffered a clear setback due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic in progress: this is what the Italian Animalist Associations ENPA , LAV , LEIDAA , LNDC and OIPA , addressing an appeal to the President of the Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte, the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza and the Director General of Animal Health of the same Ministry, Silvio Borrello.

Due to the coronavirus health crisis and everything that has ensued, adoptions and related activities have in fact been drastically reduced, to help limit any movement of the population as much as possible.

The appeal of the Italian Animal Associations

The request made to the Government, therefore, calls for a reopening in full compliance with the rules of human health safety , taking into account, at the same time, the needs relating to travel for pre-custody checks and the transfer of animals to new foster families.

“ A month and a half after the first measures – the Associations write alarmed – the load of animals in public and private structures has gone beyond any already heavy budget recorded in periods of normal activity. We are talking about over one hundred thousand dogs a year in the registered kennels alone and tens of thousands of cats “.

The importance of adoptions for the economy but not only

A possible reopening of adoptions by public realities, associations or private citizens can ensure the welfare of animals, but at the same time also favor the correct management of all those structures located throughout the country that try to stem the phenomenon of straying. 

The appeal was also launched to protect the social and moral role of cat and dog adoptions, as well as the public savings that are a direct consequence of them.

” In these last weeks of forced isolation, the presence of an animal in the family has been a comfort for many people, especially for those alone, or for the elderly – underline ENPA, LAV, LEIDAA, LNDC and OIPA – and it is also for them that we ask for the full resumption of adoptions. So that many are given the opportunity to inaugurate the new phase that awaits us responsibly. And doing a doubly good deed, for a stray and for themselves or their family ”.

Adoptions abroad

In Europe, and especially in the USA, the policy of adoptions in this particular historical period was different from the Italian one: in France, adoptions resumed starting from April 16 , while in many American cities the kennels were even stormed. until it empties completely. 

This is the case, for example, of the Animal Care and Control of the city of Chicago  which in recent days declared on social networks « We no longer have dogs. It is the first time that we have found ourselves writing such a message ». 

The Purposeful Rescue of Los Angeles also had to remove the fostering forms from its website due to an excessive amount of adoptions. While the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York recorded a 200 percent increase in adoption applications between March and April.