Stray Dogs in Sicily: A Poignant Journey

C for Dog, S for Sicily

This is a very difficult post to write because the dark sides of this reality in Sicily are many
First of all because I myself have witnessed many cruel, sometimes desperate situations of many animals bordering on the comprehensible
neighborhood dogs and cats, stray dogs and cats treated with contempt and carelessness
It would be easy to write Sicily does not love animals, but it is not so, because on the other hand I have also witnessed so much love and so much devotion
I would like to add in this post the link to the association of volunteers that takes care of so many abandoned and sick dogs, where, when I can, I go to lend a hand.

https://www.facebook.com/ANPANA.Comiso , a group of self-managed volunteers organized to rescue and in some cases treat dogs found on the street, or in the countryside.
An act of love that also represents one of the classic characteristics of the Sicilian: generosity

I must say that I am vegan, and I have been making sacrifices all my life thinking that animals deserve a different life than the one they should have according to the standards of this society.

So here in Sicily I suffer even just seeing a cow in a meadow, even if I consciously understand that in reality she is lucky, because in many other places on this planet called earth it would not be like this, because living in a meadow is now a luxury

Horse meat is a traditional and delicious dish according to Sicilians and this concept is very difficult to assimilate, but I often realize that I am not the only one who thinks this way.

Ironically, I met a large group of vegetarians who live in the Modica area, and yes, this surprises me, but also not because as I have always said, Sicily is a wonderful land, full of contradictions and a soul of overwhelming beauty.

And in front of certain masterpieces, words are lost, and as we know well, silence does not respond and above all does not judge

photo taken in Scicli infiorata cavalli 2022

The reason that hurts the most to talk about it was the loss of my dog ​​Gaia, for 16 years we walked together through the paths of destiny and we landed here in Sicily with the hope of finding our green corner

She was so happy to be here, she already felt at home, obviously not in the summer when she locked herself in the house with the air conditioning on full blast, but she got sick and after a few days of her diagnosis, she left and abandoned me here with my deaf dreams.

Gaia was not a Sicilian dog, but she could have been.

Love for animals with a capital A is not found everywhere, but you can also find it here in Sicily