Looking back at the pictures I’ve taken these past few weeks, I realized that it was filled with the following things: animals, food, saints, and Jesus. Given these statistics, I’ve decided to write about the various assortment of animals that can be seen in Italy (mainly Rome).
Starting off with the most common: dogs and pigeons. In the first few weeks of the OCS, I was surprised at how many different kinds of dogs were being walked around the neighborhood. There were dachshunds, shiba, golden retrievers, german shepherds, chihuahuas (I like to think of them as rats rather than dogs), and much more. I’ve yet to figure out how all these people are able to house their huge dogs in an urban environment such as Prati. They’re all very well behaved too. It’s not uncommon to see dogs without a leash casually strolling around without an owner. The other day I saw a dog exploring a market without a leash but he returned as soon as he heard his owner whistling for him. Even in the catacombs that we visited, there were depictions or urns dedicated to dogs.
As for the pigeons, they’re absolutely round. They probably get a lot of crumbs from the restaurant that has tables on the sidewalks and also from the thousands of tourists walking around and dropping crumbs everywhere. They’re also very desensitized to humans, so you can be within 15cm radius of them and they still won’t fly away. If you ever dreamed of catching a pigeon with your hands, I would recommend doing it in Rome.
Cats are also common, though they’re not too friendly. I’ve seen about 20 stray cats so far, but only one or two of them were willing to be pet. The others simply walk past or hiss as soon as someone gets too close. One thing they have in common is that they’re all well-kept. Even the cats that are missing a leg or an eye in the cat sanctuary in Rome (Gatti di Roma) are very fluffy and smooth. (Here’s where I try to connect this to some historical fact.) This sanctuary is located right next to an active archaeological site where Julius Caesar is thought to be assassinated and in 2012, archeological officials demanded that the sanctuary be evicted. Luckily, they were able to gather more than 30,000 signatures from those who were against the eviction, and they are still running as they did. Now that I think about it, I’ve seen lots of depictions of dogs, cows, lions, pigeons, and doves, in medieval artwork, but none of cats. According to Statista, 60% of pet owners have dogs as pets, and 58% have cats as pets. I wonder if cats weren’t popular to keep as pets in medieval times, or if they were not as practical to keep compared to dogs, since dogs were used for hunting. Nevertheless, the Romans definitely love their cats now.
There are tons of other animals that can be spotted in Rome (cow, sheep, goat, horse) and I still have hopes of meeting more stray cats that will let me pet them.
