In 2010 Fiona Cole and Carlo Cesario rescued Dino Fortunato in Calabria, Southern Italy and brought him home to California.   Following their story online at the time reminded me of the ‘local dogs’ I met during my 3 months in Sorrento, Italy

In large Italian cities you may notice dogs with owners in tow, often breeds that may be considered ‘designer’ and you rarely see stray dogs roaming alone or in a group.

The experience of rescuing Dino prompted Fiona and Carlo to question how other countries manage animal rescue and shelters compared to the USA.    Their research went beyond the process of adoption and transportation for just Dino but into the way “animals are thought of and how they fit into our lives and we in theirs”.  

Italy banned euthanasia in 2009 and shelters are paid per day per dog to house dogs.   This has added to the large number of dogs that are not family pets.    Perhaps this humanitarian policy without full consideration for the impact on the number of pets abandoned or surrendered has resulted in the need for policy change.

Dogs fall into groups:  strays, previously owned (abandoned or surrendered to a shelter) and free ranging dogs.   Each group lives differently and have specific needs.

Free dogs, considered packs and possibly dangerous in the USA, live in a group and are self-sufficient.   Free dogs do not thrive in a shelter where they are confined.   They do not mix well with other groups in a shelter.

Carlo and Fiona’s mission to bring this story to life, brought them back to Italy for interviews with four dedicated dog  advocates: author and dog trainer Luca Spennacchio,  veterinarian Dhorotea Fritz’s animal welfare organization Lega Pro Animale,  Michele Minunno, author, educating shelter workers to improving the dogs experiences  and the managers of the, Ritugio Fata  rescue in Calabria.

The interviews are more than a deeper dive into how Italy manages the endless dog population, but the insightful ideas the speakers shared on the psychology of how humans think of dogs and what the dogs experience.   All this was a surprise and prompted me to listen to the video multiple times.  

Fiona, Carlos, Dino

Locals believe they are ‘saving free dogs’ by taking them to kennels, when they often are committing them to a life in a cage.”   “New ways to see the homeless dog population and how to approach and change the system”, “understanding what a dog needs to thrive” and “increasing neutering and spaying” to manage future populations are shared by the experts interviewed. 

What I may have personally found most striking was “accepting all dogs are not the same………they require different ‘services’ if confined in a shelter”.     The job moving forward may seem daunting, but Carlo and Fiona spoke to just four of the many locals willing to stand up and take the on the job. “

In an interview Diana Latizia for Kodami,  “An immersion in the history from the social and cultural point of view of our country with respect to the relationship with dogs”  Fiona and Carlo explain why they wanted to create this project and what they have learned from some of the experts.     

The entire interview is available online:  Dalla storia di Dino Fortunato a Mondo Stray: così due americani raccontano i randagi italiani (kodami.it) and points out many facts and ideas included in this post and may initiate discussions and thoughts on how to change and create new options for the population of dogs that may be sentenced to a life in a cage.      

Alba in Roccaraso is not abandoned but when her family had to move to a location that would not allow dogs, the village adopted her.   The family returns to visit with her.  Alba strolls the streets or takes a nap in the sun without the threat of being taken to a shelter.

Episodes can be viewed on the Filo Films YouTube channel, Filo Films Tv://www.youtube.com/c/FiloTV.  https://www.youtube.com/c/FiloFilmsTV, on Facebook Filo Films  https://www.facebook.com/filofilms and Instagram @filofilms https://www.instagram.com/filofilms/ 

Luca Spennacchio

Writer and photographer.  “Dog instructor, teacher for training courses for educators, kennel operators, pet-therapy conductors, consultant in applied zoo anthropology. Speaker in conferences and seminars.”

Dr. Dhorotea Fritz

German immigrant veterinarian Dorothea Fritz, founded the Castel Volturno-based Lega Pro Animale Sterilization Centre for Dogs & Cats in 1986, “Every dog and cat to be registered with a caring owner, no more stray pets living in the streets or in overcrowded kennels” (from her online page.

Michaele Minunno

The author of From Predatory Behaviour to Relationships: looking at dogs from different perspetives that dig deep into dog behavior. Available on Amazon.

Minunno works with shelters in Puglia training workers to identify fee dogs from those surrendered by owners and works with shelter manager to create healthy living conditions for the mental health of the dogs.

Fausto Vighi

VP with Dog Evolution and instructor at Think Dog.    

From the FB page:  ThinkDog is a vision and a set of methods aimed at realizing the full potential of the relationship with the dog. www.thinkdog.it

*Fiona Cole / Documentary filmmaker and freelance content creator. British born, LA based.   Producer of MONDO STRAY, a four-part documentary about stray dogs in Italy.

The documentary, Mondo Stray, was written, edited, filmed and produced by Fiona* and Carlo.

Videographer for PAWSITIVE CHANGE

April 2021 | Lee Laurino

A compact city known for renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo, Florence offers many famous paintings, frescos and sculptures in its countless churches, museums and palaces. However, less notable art also exists throughout the city. When exploring the cobbled streets of Florence, remember to look up to find some “quiet” art.

While budding artists may be creating chalk replicas of famous works of art for tourists on Via Calimala that will be washed away by the nightly street cleaner, the unannounced installation by Clet Abraham is longer lasting and provokes thought and often a smile. 

Unless you visit the city often or are fortunate enough to live in Firenze, you may miss new installations even as others are removed. No corner metal sign or directional is safe from the embellishment of a Clet Abraham removable sticker. The subject may be a political comment, resistance to a city rule or simply an opportunity to create discussion through street sign art.

After years of spotting the signature red or blue disks, a local told me about the artist. Online, Clet Abraham is described as “best known for his work on street signs which feature creative and unique twists on otherwise plain signs.” Originally from France, Clet has been living in Italy for the past 20 years. 

Clet’s street art popularity has increased since locations for his pieces are listed on one of the city websites. Clet followers can experience a virtual treasure hunt searching for Clet’s installations. Clet Abraham’s Facebook page also boasts an extensive library of his art. 

Visit the studio in San Niccolo, Via Dell’Olmo 8r Firenze, to enjoy additional original art and novelties inspired by street sign art.

Several of the above examples are from the Clet website where you can find many other examples and place orders https://www.clet.com/

It is easy to miss items that have a great story to tell. Sometimes only a local can share insight and stories about their home, that you will never find in a tour book.

On one of my visits Home to Italy I met Marisa Convento who is an accomplished Impiraressa, and the creator of Venetian Dreams. The pozzi in Venice were a perfect photo story but to know more about them I turned to Marisa for details. She sent me a photo from her colletion that easily explains the daily activity at each well.

Away from the tourist sites in Venice, you find the neighborhoods where locals work, shop and raise their families.   Roam the calle that will take you to a campi or corti where children play and seniors sit and chat with their neighbors.   Often the route is punctuated by the  remaining pozzi that were engineered to supply clean water to the residents of Venice. 

Varying in size and design, the well covering was often the striking design but more often the cover is simple while artistic carvings adorn the sides of the wellhead.       As the center point for the families that lived here, it was also public art and a great photo opp for a visitor.     

Turning a corner or finding yourself at a dead end you may be rewarded with a unique design on the local well or one repurposed by the locals as a mini garden.  An area near the base of the wellhead often included a stone basin designed so that animals might drink here and not contaminate the well water. 

The gastaldo (block leader) and the local priest had the keys to the well cover and would lock and unlock the well  twice a day, morning and evening with the ringing of the bells.   

One of the many jobs for the women in the household was to carry buckets of water home for cooking, drinking and washing.    

At times when there was insufficient water in the wells, water was brought in by boat from the mainland.   Bigolanti were assigned to take water around to the neighborhoods, another job performed by women. 

According to Veninezia Authentica, originally there were public, private wells and those sponsored by the church.      “An 1858 report by the Comune di Venezia numbered 180 working public wells and 6,046 private wells.   ” Wealthy families who donated a well to the city might have an inscription added to the carvings on the well head.” 

Several famous pozzi are listed with ‘TurismoVenezia’: the red marble well in the courtyard at Ca’ d’Oro by Bartolomeo Born in 1427,   

photo credit ‘Bing photos’  

     photo credit ‘Bing photos’ 

The only bronze wellheads are at the Ducal Palace, Venice              

Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda, photo credit 

Eventually the system of wells was replaced with an aqueduct and later a direct connection with the mainland.  A small number of the original wells, now sealed, can still be viewed on a walk through the many neighborhoods of the city.   

Venice is surrounded by water and therefore the wells required unique engineering to collect rain water and keep sea water out.

The traditional method of digging a well is not an option when your live on and surrounded by salt water. Images of Venice clearly describes the unique construction of wells in Venice to supply the residents with fresh water.

Since a large surface area was required around each well to collect sufficient rain water, many were located in squares, courtyards, palaces and religious buildings. According to Images of Venice ‘gutters were created around the well and they drained the rainwater into the filtering system”.

On your next trip to Venice, be sure to watch for something tourists never find.

Italian cuisine may be one of the most popular in the USA and if you are part of an Italian family you have enjoyed traditional dishes as well as special treats on holidays. 

Although fresh vegetables are a mainstay in Italian cooking, a vegetarian diet is now achievable with the new book by Ylenia Sambatti:    Italian, Simple Vegetarian. 

A lifelong vegetarian, Yle says she learned to cook from Nonna Antonietta, her grandmother.  “I loved watching her being fully immersed in making pasta, she had this amazing art for making pasta.  

For years Yle has organized travel adventures in Puglia that included food experiences.    The increased interest in the regional cooking of southern Italy, led to creating Cook in Puglia cooking school.    With a platform to demonstrate farm to table specialties and the increased interest in vegetarian dishes or a healthier diet, she decided to share recipes she has cooked for her family and at her school. 

For years Yle has organized travel adventures in Puglia that included food experiences.    The increased interest in the regional cooking of southern Italy, led to creating Cook in Puglia cooking school.    With a platform to demonstrate farm to table specialties and the increased interest in vegetarian dishes or a healthier diet, she decided to share recipes she has cooked for her family and at her school. 

Thirty easy to follow recipes feature soups, main dishes and even deserts.  The ingredients are often already found in your kitchen and the step-by-step instructions are simple and clearly listed.     

After months of cooking at home, now may be a perfect time to follow Yle’s suggestion about cooking: “rethink some ways of living and go in a healthier direction when possible, not a drastic change but gradual”.   

Available on kindle at Amazon   

author contact:  info@cookinpuglia.com

Not a painting.    Stone Art

Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure Via degli Alfani 78 – 50121 Firenze

The museum is housed in a renovated, historic building that wraps around a central garden.   The traditional floor plan was altered exposing a 2 story gallery from the entrance of the museum.

The second floor houses the ancient machinery and tools that are used to create Pietre dure art. A  film explained the process simply and described how designs are created, patterns made and stone cut to fit exactly into each pattern.  The museums’ You Tube posts gives you close up, color views 

For details on this detailed process another  You Tube  video covers  the process from selection of each stone, cutting and fitting into the intricate pattern to the final touches.

You get see the tools employed in the cases as well as stone samples.

This wooden vice holds a very thin slice of marble.   A wire saw will cut out the next design piece that will be added to the outline

Most walls are covered with works that appear to be paintings but are ALL completed with different colored stone to create each piece.  The work is seamless with no indication that it is not one single piece of stone.

Check with the museum for open days and times.  http://opificiodellepietredure.it/

 Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure  Via degli Alfani 78 – 50121FFirenze   

Museo storico della Liberazione, Rome  another unique experience to discover- beyond the tourist sites.

The museum recording the liberation of Rome from the Nazi occupation is housed in a non descript apartment building not far from the Basilica of St John Laterna.

Here you will find records of the Italian Resistance in 1944 during the WWII German occupation of Rome 9/11/1943 to 6/4/1944.  

At this location the SS detained and tortured captured members of the Italian Resistance.  Since 1955 the former cells and offices preserve original leaflets, posters and documents that create the record of events during the occupation.    Photographs, recordings and some films from this time are on display throughout the museum.

Historical Museum of the Liberation Struggle of Rome Prisons

The staff member on duty the day I visited.  What stories he may have to share

The museum layout uses the original apartment floor plans    Your audio guide takes you through the rooms on each of the 3 floors.  Tour at your own pace there is much to read and learn in the 19 rooms.   

                      What goes through your mind if you have been captured by the Nazi’s
                                                 and brought to this stark building?

The rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors during the time the SS occupied the building,  ‘housed over 2,000 citizens, soldiers, partisans, who were detained, interrogated and tortured’. 1    In several cells you can see the prisoners faint messages scratched on the walls.

                   .

                                                         Bread, Peace, Freedom

 

      Black and white photo from public events and a few of mass gathering 
                                                  for Hitler or Mussolini were fascinating

Not far from the Termini train station, close to the basilica of St. John Lateran

The museum offered free admission and welcomes donations.  
Several books and publications are available for purchase.
Check with the museum on access to the research room and materials.

Consult the museum’s web site to confirm days and times open.

museum web site http://www.museoliberazione.it/
 Phone: +39 06 700 3866
Address:  Via Tasso 145, Rome

Sources for statistics and dates:   www.itww.museoliberazion;  Wikipedia; the Museum Narrates by Antonio Parisella
1.  http://www.museoliberazione.it/en/information.html

What is happening in Italy today? 

Italians have been under stay at home orders for weeks leaving the streets empty, stores closed and tourists returning home to wait out the pandemic.

As a few of the strict rules are being changed or lifted, Italian cities are seeing a few signs of life.  
                       

The Italian flag is found on many balconies and hung from windows

The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross)

Locals leave food for anyone in need to help themselves

The street along the Arno river towards the Ponte Vecchio This street is usually packed with tourists

                    Photos by Sheila Ford, Real Estate Agent and passionate photographer.