The criminal proceedings over the abandonment of two kittens, found on 9 August 2026 inside a plastic bag thrown into a rubbish bin in front of the State Hospital of San Marino, have been shelved. It was not possible to identify the person responsible. The news was announced by the San Marino Animal Protection Association (Associazione Sammarinese Protezione Animali, APAS), which expressed “deep indignation and bitterness” over the outcome of the case.
One of the two kittens did not survive. “One of the two kittens died, despite the desperate attempts of volunteers to save it, who even sought out a mother cat willing to take them in and nurse them alongside her own litter. It was too frail and worn out: it didn’t make it.”
According to the association, the lack of surveillance cameras hampered efforts to reconstruct what happened. “The complaint filed by APAS was shelved because it was not possible to trace the person responsible, partly due to the absence of cameras at the scene,” the statement reads.
APAS therefore raises a question: “How is it possible that in such a busy area there are no cameras capable of documenting such serious incidents?” It adds: “The lack of surveillance tools made it impossible to identify who committed this act, and risks leaving an act of cruelty against completely defenceless creatures without consequences.”
The association’s stance also touches on the enforcement of laws against animal cruelty and abandonment. “Laws alone are not enough: without effective controls, adequate investigative tools, and certainty that those responsible will be identified and prosecuted, animal protection risks remaining nothing more than words on paper. Protecting animals means ensuring that regulations are not mere statements of principle, but concrete instruments of justice and prevention.”
The association returns to the fate of the two kittens: “Two kittens are not rubbish to be thrown away. One of them died as a result of the suffering it endured, and whoever abandoned them remains, unfortunately, nameless and unpunished.”
Hence the call for concrete measures to identify those responsible: “APAS strongly demands greater attention to the mistreatment and abandonment of animals, and concrete measures so that those responsible for such crimes can be identified and held accountable under the law.”
