Hi all! I just (casually) discovered this forum. I'm very interested because I love animals, expecially canids. I done many years of shelter volunteer, and I'm an animal right activist. Also I collaborate with web sites and forums on dogs and wild canids: I'm doing some information/education on canines (expecially wolves and stray dogs). A friend of mine is a naturalist reporter, and he's filming wolves since them returns on the Alps... I published a short documentary on my Youtube channel.

Some words on the situation of canines in my country. Here wolves are protected by the law, also stray dogs, and for the law there are only no-killing shelters... theorically... but in Italy there are many poachers, many wolves are illegally killed... wolves still have a bad reputation (since Middle Ages) ...and about stray dogs, they're very vilifed by the press as "killer dogs", "dogs came from the hell" and so on

I saw an artwork section: I like canine art, and I know many talented artists on DeviantArt that draws dogs, wolves and also wolf comics!

I've few time, but I promise to visit this forum every so often ...and excuse me for the bad english...

PS: Can I link my forums, Youtube, DA, etc or it's considered spam?

Welcome to the forum, so we are nearly neighbours

Welcome, Wildstray! always great to have another animal lover around here.

Quote:

and about stray dogs, they're very vilifed by the press as "killer dogs", "dogs came from the hell" and so on

Ouch! Wolves, I can understand. Stray dogs, on the other hand? Wow. I didn't know that kind of attitude towards wild dogs still existed in some places.

Way back in biblical times, and even before then, it was considered an insult to call someone a dog; 'dog' in this context, though, refered to the vicious, mangy strays and wild dogs that often roamed outsite city limits, scavenging off of the waste piles. No one wanted to be ascociated with such animals. Even today, it's a profanity to call someone a female dog. But I didn't know such things are still spoken of strays in some places.

I sincerely hope that people way out there in Italy don't believe everything they hear on TV, Wildstray.

Thanks for the welcome

Kibib, where are you from?

UltraMetaloid, about the press... this is the point! Think about who we have as Premier: the master of televisions Italians are sheeps, not wolves...
I tell you what's happening here about stray dogs. Two months ago, in Sicily, some dogs of a mad old man escaped and killed a kid. They was abused, in starvation. The press accused strays. Carabinieri, along to the local mayor, did shoot many strays (as seen in TV, scared strays of small-medium size... a frightful danger for the people?). Pharmacies sold prohibited poinsons, and many dogs was (and are today) poisoned. From the Sicily to entire Italy many dogs was poisoned (and accidentally also wolves and other protected wildlife). Many volunteers (also women) was brutally attacked and beated by anti-dog people. Despite the earthquake in Abruzzo and other really bad or important news, the press continue to talk about "killer dogs" and report improbable story as dogs that "steal the shopping bags to a women" or that "hate bicycle riders" or "they're hungry so hate men"...

...excuse me for this depressing story Here there's much ignorance (not only about animals) I've NEVER been in troubles with stray dogs, and I approach and make friends with every dogs, expecially strays

I am from Austria.

yes, there is going something really wrong about stray dogs (and other canids) in europe, not just in Italy, I heard similar reports from other european countries (Greece, Spain and eastern europe) partly forced by the government partly only by some really stupid people, some organisations try to spay/neutur and vaccine stray dogs and release them but with little support by the governments.

Hello from the Netherlands!

Been in Italy a couple of times before. The only sentence that I still remember is 'Non parlo Italiano'

So late here, but Welcome!