Twelve-Year-Old Dog Rescued from Severe Neglect in Naples

A twelve-year-old dog was rescued and seized by the zoophilic guards of the International Organization for Animal Protection (Oipa) in Casoria, in the province of Naples, and the person holding it was reported for mistreatment (article 544 ter of the Penal Code). The dog, a Maremma mix, was forced to live locked in a room inside an abandoned shed, tied to a chain fixed to a wall, in a context of extreme hygienic-sanitary degradation. At the time of the seizure, it had neither water nor food available. 'Its health conditions appeared immediately serious,' says the coordinator of the zoophilic guards of Naples and its province, Fernando Cirella. 'Thor, as we called him, was very thin and in need of medical care. We alerted the veterinary ASL of Casoria, which immediately sent a veterinarian for first aid. We can't even understand how he managed to survive in such a serious situation. He had been fasting and without drinking for days, could not stand up, had very long nails, hair loss, mycosis in the eye area, arthritis, and dehydration: this is what was found in the clinic by the doctors.' Now Thor is a guest of a facility where he is recovering his strength and the Oipa guards are monitoring his improvements. He can be entrusted to someone who can give him, in his last years of life, a home and above all love and proper care. At the end of the procedure, the custody can turn into a definitive adoption. Oipa invites not to ignore cases of degradation and mistreatment of which one is aware and to always turn to its zoophilic guards who, in full respect of privacy, can intervene to protect animals.