Arsonists in southern Italy have been using a horrific method to start wildfires: tying flammable rags to the tails of cats and releasing them into fields. The cats, with their tails on fire, then run around and spread the flames.
Investigation Underway
According to Domenico Costarella of Calabria’s Civil Protection Agency, the cats were found with flammable-soaked rags tied to their tails. Other evidence, including candles lit among flammable rags and delayed ignition devices, also points to arson.
Firefighters are still working to contain the blazes around Calabria’s Pollino National Park. The Italian Association for the Defense of Animals and the Environment has filed a criminal complaint and offered a 1,000 euro reward for information on who may have set the cats alight.
This is not the first time that cats have been used to start fires in southern Italy. In 2016, authorities in Sicily blamed the mob for using cats to start forest fires in a national park. The next year, officials said the same tactic was used to set fires outside of Naples, near Mount Vesuvius.
UC Berkeley researcher Lauren Pearson told CNN last year that there is evidence that Mafia groups often set fires to gain control of territory, often buying land at a premium in the aftermath.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
