Introduction

I started rescuing feral cats in my village in Umbria about 4 years ago when I suspected they were being poisoned.  I never wanted pets, but couldn't stand back & watch them suffer.  At one point I had 7 cats, by the end of  December 2011, I was down to only 3.  Pepper died from poisoning over the Christmas holiday.  I also discovered that many local families had lost their dogs & cats to poisoning at the same time.  The same thing happened in March last year to all of us.  I saddly watched my friends rush their poisoned dog to the vets, where he died.  We & the authorities know who the criminal is, but he can not be brought to justice until he's caught.  He & a friend who sometimes assists, are hunters with access to all open land, the rest of us only have access to our own land thus finding the poison is left only to the over-stretched authorities.  Furthermore, they are applying the poison to small pieces of meat which can't easily be seen.

There are several reasons why they leave poison in the fields:
They wish to kill the foxes who are a threat to the birds & animals which they hunt
In the case of cats, this particular hunter hates them

Neither of the above are justification for killing other animals.

There are also 2 types of poisoning:
Poison laid down for the foxes
Poison throw into or left for truffle hunting dogs to lessen the competition

This is not a problem unique to my area, it happens frequently in other parts of Umbria & throughout Italy.  There are laws to protect animals but they've no teeth without a vast force dedicated to finding the perpetrators.  Therefore, I wish the world to know of our suffering, the huge loss of innocent animals, the failure of the Italian Government to provide us with an adequate investigative force to bring the criminals to justice & a lack of intervention to tackle the problem by other means.

Without naming the perpetrators, I would like local people to discover who it is that's killing innocent animals, causing grief to their owners.  I wish that people to turn their backs on those who do such deeds along with their families.  I'm also asking all who use the countryside to be vigilant & report to the authorities anything suspicious.

If you go walking in the countryside you may be able to help us if you take with you:
Your cell phone
A camera
A fresh bin bag
Several fresh freezer bags with their closing tabs
A pair of clean surgical gloves
This means that should you see a piece of meat you can remove the evidence without contaminating it.

In this blog I will tell you of my sad experiences and that of other pet owners.

Most of all, by following this blog & our Facebook Page (coming shortly) we will give these criminals the message that soon they will be brought to justice.  Please also support our blog in Italian
:http://stopallavvelenamento.blogspot.com/