Catania: from mafia lands to a refuge for strays, the dog oasis is born in the industrial area

By the end of the year, an oasis for dogs will be established in the industrial area to welcome dogs accustomed to group life, but stray and therefore at risk and danger to themselves and potentially to citizens as well. That's not all: the oasis for dogs will indeed be partially built on land confiscated from the mafia, a true unicum in its kind.

This was confirmed by the approval that took place yesterday of the executive resolution regarding it, with which the municipal administration led by Enrico Trantino, at the behest of councilor Viviana Lombardo, who has the delegations for Stray Animals and Assets confiscated from organized crime, has sent a double signal of safety and legality in the city.

The impacts will be concrete, especially considering the continuous reports coming particularly from the area of San Marco Hospital, in the inadequately fenced land on via Galermo (and we had written about it after the attack suffered by a resident, who miraculously saved herself) and, as read in recent days, stray dogs also live in the abandoned areas of San Cristoforo, but not only. And this is just to mention a few cases.

This is an area composed of several parcels located in contrada Torre Allegra where there is a small building, already planned as a physical presence of the Department of Environment, Ecology, and Animal Protection, in addition to a large space for running and an area where special boxes capable of containing multiple dogs, as mentioned, already accustomed to living together, will be installed. The confiscated assets are lands on which a company owned by Orazio Buda, a member of the Cappello – Carateddi clan currently imprisoned with a final conviction, operated parking and garage activities, lands that were assigned in 2022 to the non-disposable assets of the Municipality for social purposes.

With the act approved yesterday, therefore, not only will the management of the stray phenomenon improve shortly, but there will also be a significant reduction in overall costs borne by the entity's budget to keep individual dogs monitored and healthy.