And the Dogs Came Too

Ferragosto (
celebrated on the 15 August) gets a pretty bad press from animal lovers in
Italy. It’s the time of year when pets tend to get thrown out to fend for
themselves rather than put into boarding kennels or catteries. But there is
some good news. It’s estimated that about 650,000 animals spent the Ferragosto
holidays with their owners, according to AIDAA (Associazione  Italiana per la Difesa di Animali e Ambiente).  The Association analysed data of  “Movimento del turismo delle famiglie con
animali” – basically people taking holidays with their pets, and came up
with the figures.

They estimate
that 450,000 dogs went with their owners to their second homes, 180,000 were
enjoying the holidays in a hotel, agriturismo or campsite while 20,000 accompanied
their owners in a camper or caravan.

The statistics
can be broken down even further telling us exactly who went where. Apparently
70 per cent of dogs enjoyed the mountains, lakes or countryside, 26 percent
went to the beach (although a significant number of those were probably
confined to theor rooms as most nbeaches don’t allow dogs) while the remaining
4 percent went on their travels with the family in the campervan.

The figures show that the percentage of Italians taking their four
legged friend on holiday has risen to 31 percent, a five percent increase on
last year. Lorenzo Croce, president of AIDAA says the figures, taken
with a corresponding reduction in the number of abandoned dogs so far this year
indicates the message is getting through, and that people are taking more
responsibility for their pets. He added that if the numbers in September
continue to demonstrate the current trend it would be a very positive sign
indeed.