Feragosto - I

Feragosto is upon us. That time of year when Romans close up shop for the month and head off to the seashore or the mountains to escape the heat of August. Most businesses in our neighbourhood will be closed for the entire month - restaurants, pizzerias, gelaterias, tobacco shops, bars, clothing stores etc; only the supermarkets and the vegetable stand run by two Sri Lanka chaps (they never close)will be open for groceries.

The streets will be almost deserted except for a few cars and stray dogs. Sadly along with the golden tans and vacation snaps those dogs are part of the legacy of Feragosto.

This billboard has been appearing around town and can be translated as:

You have the choice?
Are you humane or inhumane.
Leave him with a relative. Leave him with a friend.
Leave him with a keeper. Leave him at a kennel.
But don't leave him in the street. Think about it!
It is a criminal offence to abandon an animal.

And as hard as it is to believe of a "civilized" country there are hundreds of reasons for these billboards wandering the streets in August.

To me it says a great deal about people here and none of it particularly good.

28 luglio - Santa Natalia

Gratuitous Puppy Pictures

Though as I mentioned in a comment to RG over at Dulce y Peligroso, there is not such thing as a gratuitous Pet Picture.

Like most daschies Reese loves to burrow when he sleeps and that damned collar has made it very difficult. Bedtime the last few nights has been accompanied by as much noise as 8k dog with a plastic thingy around its neck can make before finding the right position - and of course that position must be changed three or four times during the night. Or better yet just to punish the bastard who attached that bloody thing - and who sleeps very light - wander around the apartment in the dark, bumping into furniture and walls, before settling down in a new location.


I took the collar off for a while this morning and he immediately burrowed under his blanket. At one point he came up for air and to give me a disgusted look when he saw the camera.

Sadly there are a fair number of stray dogs roaming the streets of Rome. Often when an animal gets sick the owner will simply turn it loose rather than seek expensive veterinarian care. Since late August there has been a lovely looking black dog - I'm bad at identifying breeds - roaming the area - Laurent saw him near his office a few times, we've seen him down by the train station and every so often near our complex. He isn't aggressive and seems almost apologetic for being here - I know Walt Disney emotions - and today soaked with rain he looked incredibly sad. I want to do something but not sure what.

25 novembre - Santa Caterina d'Alexandria