Overview

• The 26 August observance traces to U.S. influencer Colleen Paige and is largely a media initiative rather than a coordinated rescue campaign.
• Commentators in Italy say a single day is inadequate because dogs are treated as family members requiring daily responsibility.
• Official Health Ministry figures last updated to end 2022 recorded 67,567 entries into canili sanitari, 22,040 into refuges, 20,357 returns to owners and 32,620 adoptions, with no newer nationwide totals published.
• Associations and shelter operators report facilities are overstretched or close to collapse in many areas.
• A law in force since 1 July raises penalties for intentional cruelty, with prison up to four years in cases involving sadism, prolonged violence or organized fights, while negligent conduct removed from the bill’s criminal scope may draw only administrative fines and fuels calls for prevention and education.