Story by Mandi Lindner, Photos by Kristin Parker, Video by Jackie Blackburn
Cats are highly valued in Italian culture. There are cat sanctuaries that provide care and food for strays in Venice, Florence, and Rome. Rome’s city council cited ancient heritage in favor of protecting the strays in 2001. “There is a deep-rooted affection for these cats who have an ancient bond with the city.”
While the small town of Cagli is far removed from the large, cosmopolitan city of Rome, in lieu of a sanctuary, local gattare, cat ladies, care for the stray cats in Cagli.
Feline Freedom
Maria Coltilde Renzetti, a Cagliese who owns and cares for five of her own cats, claims that there is a special place in Italian culture for i gatti, for cats.
She holds a small kitten, the newest member of her family, in the palms of her hands. The kitten peeks its tiny, curious eyes out from between Maria’s fingers and gives a scratchy, timid cry.
Instantly, two grown cats – the kitten’s mother and father, no doubt – rush to the scene and rub against Maria’s legs. The mother cat gives a demanding meow and Maria sets the kitten on the cobblestone courtyard in her garden.
The kitten instantly bounds away to Maria’s flowerpots, batting at the overhanging leaves and trying, unsuccessfully, to jump into each pot while mom and dad look on protectively.
Renzetti explains that in Cagli, unlike in bigger Italian cities, there is more room for cats to roam free. Most cats seen in Cagli have free reign of the streets. Some have human families and return home each night. Others are strays.
Every day stray cats can be seen sunning themselves on top of parked cars. In the evenings they may prowl for food or scuffle for mates. They are left independent and are relatively unbothered by humans. In fact, in August of 1991, Italy passed a law regarding stray cats saying that, “it is forbidden for anyone to mistreat stray cats.” The law also provided provisions for a No Kill policy stating, “stray cats can be put to sleep only if severely ill or incurable.”
The statute, referred to as Italian Law Quadro, was introduced to condemn violence and abandonment of animals, “with the aim to promote the cohabitation of humans and animals.” That cohabitation can be seen in the liberty strays are given in Cagli, and laissez-faire attitude the town residents have toward the cats.
Gattare: Caring for the Cats of Cagli
Rosa Pieretti, one of Cagli’s local gattare, women who care for stray cats, opens the door to her home. Instantly three cats appear and beg for food. One cat, a pregnant calico, rubs against her ankles while another offers a plaintive meow.
Inside Pieretti’s medieval kitchen, which still smells like wood fire decades after the imposing brick oven first sat idle, she explains how she met her first stray.
He showed up at her door, claims Pieretti, and cried at the front of her house because he was starving. Being a softhearted woman, she began to feed him every day and named him “Megolonne,” which means, “the one who meows much.”
After she started feeding Megolonne, Pieretti says that other cats came for food and she ended up naming them all. Megolina, who is the daughter of Megolonne, and Nerina, which means “little black” for the diminutive, midnight-colored feline are the two that come by most often. Fantomas, which means, “appears and disappears,” is the name Pieretti gave to a red tabby as she only sees him once every few weeks.
Video Produced by Jackie Blackburn
Pieretti claims that now her relationship to the strays is such that, whenever she goes out into the piazza, the cats can sense her presence and they follow her around. Like ducklings in a row following a mama duck, Megolonne, Megolina, Nerina, and others go where Rosa leads, no doubt hoping for a few morsels of food.
Pieretti thinks that cats are especially useful for two reasons: to provide comfort and to conduct pest control. Pest control is an activity that made the cat highly valued in ancient times. According to Susan Wheeler, of the Friends of Roman Cats nonprofit organization, “in antiquity, the cat was highly valued for hunting rodents as it helped defend the human populace against diseases like the plague.”
Strays still provide that same service today. Cats can be seen roaming the streets at night, hunting for food and for sport. In the daytime they stay close to their human friends, relaxing and sharing affection.
Web production by Mandi Lindner
