Thank you for visiting this website. My name is Guido Marcone, and I am a director and producer. I gave my little, unfortunately too little, contribution to this site’s realization. Believe me, the Association’s resources are really small. I would say under the minimum. I don’t have much more to say, but it is my intention to do what I can in order to help Assuntina, a wonderful person, left alone. Only a small group of volunteers helps her in this terrible fight for this little friends from being tortured.

I want just point out a couple of things. There is a little confusion between the meaning of “animal” and “beast”. Animals are beautiful friends, faithful companions in our life. Between them there are our beloved friends and others, in wildlife, that make our existence beautiful.

In the second group, there are people that find amusement in burning a dog alive or torturing helpless animals. We could live better without this people, they should stay in cages instead of innocent dogs.

I’D LIKE TO REMIND YOU THAT DURING THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS THE NUMBER OF ASSUNTINA’S DOGS GREW UP, NOW THEY ARE ALMOST 300!!

Now, in order to let you understand the whole story, I ask you to read this letter, written by Assuntina, that I had through the volunteers. READ IT, PLEASE! IT’S LONG, but it’s worth it, you won’t waste your time .

Thanks to all of you for every little help you’ll choose to give us.

Ps: many thanks to Marzia, Luciano, Giovanni, Giusy, Laura, Milena, Alessandra and Morena, without whom none of this could be possible.

THE HISTORY

·        Prologue

·        How it began

·        Stories of ordinary insanity

·        Heaps of poor things

·        Pontius Pilate and Barabbas

·        No more alone

·        The art of shuffling and the power of bureaucracy

·        Operation O.S.P.E.

·        Excerpt of social life

·        New episodes of an old epic

Prologue

Hi everybody…I thank you for giving your attention to my case…I don’t get such a thing in the town where I live! Let’s start from the begin (even if it will be difficult since the last five years were full of ups and downs): I’ll try to tell you the reality of Porto Empedocle and of our unfortunate dogs, step by step.

How it began

About five years ago, while I was going for errands, my attention was attracted  from a weird smell, something like burning meat. I went toward the point were this smell was coming and I saw the most upsetting and appalling scene of my life: a group of kids was burning some puppies, taken from a terrorized and stray bitch, and their burned flesh was the horrible smell. I could hear their screaming, helpless and terrified, being left to the mercy of monsters, not human beings, between the indifference of people that don’t hear, don’t speak, don’t see. I couldn’t stand anymore, and with the courage of despair, I asked for help to stop that monstrosity, but no one answered. Who cares of  those dogs, that bring only illness and ticks (this is the Empedoclinian’s definition for dog, instead of man’s best friend!!!). Nevertheless, pushing those kids as I could, I saved the last two puppies. Ironically, besides the shock, those guys tried to impeach me, but the reality of the facts made useless their try. In any case, they didn’t have any problem with the justice because too young.

Heaps of poor things

Along the time, filled up my apartment of stray dogs, I started to put them in an abandoned factory (Montedison), thinking that the major would have found  a solution for this problem, and, as always, I was wrong.

The months went by, and I was really worried because almost every day I found an old dog or an entire litter of puppies in front of the factory because the rumors said that was some sort of shelter over there.

At some point, when the street sweepers found puppies in the garbage cans (as the usual), they started to bring them to me, thinking that I was in charge for that kind of problem.

I wasn’t able to say “NO” every time I was in front of a poor and suffering dog and the result was that I had over 200 dogs to feed and shelter, with a consequential economic and psychological disaster. In addition, I was reprimanded from the priest of my church because I was a sinner: yes, in fact I wasn’t a good catholic because I didn’t honoured God attending the Sunday Mass, hearing words of love and compassion and, instead, I was wasting my time between poor beings craving for help and love!

Pontius Pilate and Barabbas

I decided to step on my pride and I went to ask for help from the institutions, and it began a worst adventure: as a tennis ball I was bouncing from an office to another, without having answers or help.

After a while, since I wasn’t getting tired from this situation, they decided to attack me, as a fool that had 200 dogs without permission. Luckily, a good lawyer helped me and I didn’t have to pay a fine of 40.000 euros!!!!

In the whole problem, I’ve never seen anyone from the public sanitary system, which is in charge for neutering stray animals and preventing illness.

There is public money that should be used for building shelters and take care of the problem, but here, in Sicily, there are only stray and abused animals, without any protection.

No more alone

This sad story, somehow, got the attention of the mass media, local newspaper and a bunch of minutes in national tv programs and, after empty promises and useless words, some animals association helped me to face the problem. Between them, the most loyal, constant and active is “Oltre la specie”.

Many people, sensitive to my situation all over Italy, thru protests, fund raisings, appeals, helped me during the most dark time, while I was resigned to see all my sweethearts dying for hunger or illness. They gave me food, medicines and money, but this is not the solution, I can’t lay over charity instead of asking to the major to take his liabilities in front of the state laws.

The pressure over the political institutions achieved some king of commitment for food supplies, the quality was poor, but at least was a begin, and for a while this agreement worked out, then it stopped. Unfortunately we eat every day, and so the dogs; I bought food on credit and I knew that I couldn’t pay for it, so I’ve been denounced and I’m still having problems…

The art of shuffling and the power of bureaucracy

The gravity of my situation didn’t have a real solution yet; basically because the political institutions are still at large, nobody listen to me or take the problem seriously. Instead of resolve this problem, I’ve only got threat of clearing out the Montedison’s area without knowing where they would do with my beloved dogs.

Operation O.S.P.E.

In the meantime, some Animals Associations from the north, helped me to neutered males and females, giving me the opportunity of using (not for free) a movable clinic, veterinarians and volunteers in order to avoid more puppies to feed. The first try was useless, because we had problems with the Veterinarian’s Association, maybe because they couldn’t stand not to be involved. Anyway, two of them really helped us and finally we neutered many dogs, but still there are others to capture and I can’t get any help since my northern volunteers left Porto Empedocle.

Excerpt of social life

While the OSPE (Neutering Operation Porto Empedocle) was running, I thought to stand as a candidate in the election for the new Town Council. I was working for a problem that shouldn’t my business to resolve, in the past years I was involved for helping young women in difficulties, and I could be a good town councillor. Naturally, I wasn’t elected, because I could become really dangerous and inconvenient for those who moved the money from the real goal to their pockets!

New episodes of an old epic

A new stop for my project was in June 2006, while there was the election campaign and I had to wait the new council with its bunch of promises. In the meantime nobody even gave me what the former council promised, so I couldn’t discuss the building of the new shelter, the food supplies or the garbage problem…

Finally there is a new major (Calogero FIRETTO) and a new Town Council to whom I’ll keep asking help and serious solutions. Who knows if they will listen and cooperate or they’ll choose the other way, the bad one…

Dani Rametta Assuntina

THINK ABOUT IT AND TAKE ACTION!!