News Animals

Italy gets tough with motorists who abandon dogs by the roadside

By: Wanted in Rome

Date:

21 Nov, 2024

New penalties in Italy for drivers who abandon pets.

Italy's parliament on Wednesday approved a series of amendments to the Highway Code including tougher penalties for motorists who abandon their dogs by the roadside.

The bill, approved by both the chamber of deputies and the senate, is set to be signed into law by Italy's president Sergio Mattarella in the coming days and is expected to take effect by the end of this year.

Under the reforms, drivers caught abandoning dogs on the side of the road face losing their licences for between six months and a year, and they risk seven years in jail if an accident is caused by the abandoned animal.

The new legislation, part of a major overhaul of the highway code or codice stradale, was pushed through by transport minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvini in a bid to cut road deaths.

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Salvini told the senate last year that in addition to being "an act of absolute barbarism and incivility", abandoning pets by the roadside "also risks jeopardising the safety of those travelling".

Around 85,000 dogs were abandoned in Italy in 2023, an increase of more than 8 per cent on the previous year, according to estimates by Italian environmental lobby group Legambiente.

As part of an annual awareness campaign last summer, Italy's police issued a reminder that abandoning an animal is a crime, with penalties of up to one year in prison and fines from €1,000 to €10,000.

To learn about the process of adopting a dog in Rome, see our guide. This article was updated on 21 November 2024.