Locked up inside a concrete ruin with no windows and a barred entrance, confined in the dark, without water or food. These were the terrible living conditions of a dog seized by the zoophile guards of the International Animal Protection Organization (Oipa) who intervened in the Cagliari area.

The owner, who according to the investigation had kept the dog in that small cell for at least five months, was charged for mistreatment and abandonment.

During a routine check in the area, the zookeepers heard barking coming from a very small concrete block building located in an isolated piece of land in the countryside and immediately went into action.

«The ruin had no opening towards the outside, but only a small opening of 40 centimeters which allowed Pippo, as we called him, to look out just by sticking out his head. The entrance was barred with a high wooden gate." says the coordinator of the Oipa zoophile guards in Sardinia, Monica Pisu.

The little dog "had neither a kennel nor any type of bed : he was forced to curl up on the cold and damp concrete ground. On the ground we found his excrement and an overturned pot, usually used to administer water, perfectly dry. Furthermore, the animal was fed with food that was not at all appropriate for the species: on the floor there were pieces of moldy bread, dried remains of pizza, chips and spaghetti."

Once released from seizure, Pippo, who is about two years old and small, was entrusted to the care of a facility that welcomed him and can now be taken into temporary custody. At the end of the procedure it can be adopted definitively.