Has it ever happened to you to call the local health authority (ASL) to get the cats in your colony neutered, only to be told the service is suspended? Or to write to the municipality for the census and never get a reply, or to find a formal notice from the building manager in your mailbox?
Now there’s a dedicated service for these problems. At legal.retefelina.it you can report a problem to the legal team of Rete Felina, the Animal Law Italia project that connects colony caretakers, municipalities and local health authorities (ASL), and follow its resolution step by step. The service is free and is currently active, on a trial basis, in Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sardinia.
In this article we explain what it offers, what kinds of problems you can write to us about, and how it works.
What is legal.retefelina.it
Legal.retefelina.it is Rete Felina’s online space for people who care for free-roaming cats. Inside you’ll find three tools:
- your colony’s register, available to everyone, free and immediately after signing up;
- reports to the legal team, for groups affiliated with Rete Felina in the four regions where the project is active;
- practical guides and frequently asked questions: the law on cat colonies explained by situation, who is responsible for acting, and which letters and requests you can make yourself.
This isn’t a general animal law helpdesk: it’s designed specifically for free-roaming cats and the people who care for them, and it draws on the experience the team has built up over years of working with municipalities and veterinary services.
What kinds of problems you can write to us about
The report form covers the problems that caretakers report to us most often. You can select more than one:
- Neutering: the local health authority’s veterinary service (in Calabria, the ASP) isn’t carrying out neutering, is doing it inadequately, or isn’t organising trapping.
- Absent municipality: forms, procedures or information are missing, or the municipality doesn’t respond, delays, or denies the assistance it owes.
- Law not enforced: the regional law or municipal regulation for animal protection remains only on paper. The rules for each region are collected in our legislative database.
- Conflicts with private individuals: residents of a shared building, a neighbour, a shop owner or a business objects to the cats’ presence, perhaps with a formal notice or a resolution of the residents’ meeting.
- Possible wrongdoing: failures to comply or disputes that require a legal assessment.
- Abuse, poisoning, injury: cats in danger. These reports are handled as a priority.
- General guidance: you simply need to understand how to proceed and which rules apply.
If your case doesn’t fit any of these categories, you can choose “Other” and describe it in your own words.
How it works, step by step
- You sign up. All you need is your name, email and a couple of lines about who you are, for example “caretaker of a colony in Bari” or “volunteer with a group affiliated with Rete Felina”. You confirm your email with a code: there’s no need to create a password. If you already have an account on Pet Law, Animal Law Italia’s portal on responsible coexistence with animals, you can use it here too, and vice versa: you don’t need to register twice. You can also sign in with Google or Apple.
- You register the colony. The register is yours right away, even before your account is approved.
- The team approves your account. If your group is affiliated with Rete Felina in Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata or Sardinia, we usually approve it within one business day and let you know by email.
- You submit your report. The form asks where the colony is located (with a precise address), whether it’s registered with the municipality and under which code, how many cats there are, what’s happening, and what you’ve already done with the municipality and the local health authority (ASL). You can attach documents and photos. Before you submit, the form shows you what’s missing. You describe the facts, and the team assesses the urgency.
- The team replies. Our lawyers read every report, tell you what to do and, when needed, write to the authorities by certified email (PEC): a report to the local health authority (ASL), a reminder to the municipality, a request for access to records, a formal notice. Formal documents are signed by Animal Law Italia, as part of the Rete Felina project.
Following your case
Every report becomes a case with its own code (for example RF-2026-0012) and a page reserved just for you. There you’ll find:
- the conversation with the team, including replies and attached documents;
- the milestones of the case: when we wrote by certified email (PEC) and to which authority, when the reply arrived, when the case was closed;
- the documents shared by the team, such as the formal notice sent or the municipality’s reply;
- the questions we ask you to answer in order to move forward, one at a time;
- letters for you to sign, when needed (for example a power of attorney): you fill them in with your details directly on the page and download them ready for signature.
We notify you by email every time the team writes to you. When the case closes, we ask whether the problem was resolved: your answer helps us understand what’s working.
The colony register, free for everyone
Even if you don’t have a problem to report, the register helps you keep your colony’s life organised. It’s open to anyone who signs up, in any region. You can:
- record each cat’s name, sex, neutering status and microchip, and who is still there or has been adopted;
- keep track of cat counts and neutering numbers over time;
- log treatments and receive an email reminder when the next one is due;
- invite other volunteers who help you care for the colony;
- store the colony’s documents and print a summary sheet;
- prepare the neutering request for the veterinary service of your province’s local health authority (ASL).
An up-to-date register is also useful when something goes wrong: if one day you need to report a problem, the team will already have the colony’s history and can act more quickly.
What the service doesn’t do
To make good use of the service, it also helps to know its limits.
- It doesn’t replace emergency services. If animals are in danger right now, call 112 first, or the Local Police or the Carabinieri Forestali. Then write to us: you can send a report of abuse or animals in danger even if your account hasn’t been approved yet.
- It isn’t active across all of Italy yet. Outside Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sardinia, you can use the colony register, but you can’t yet send reports to the team. If you’d like Rete Felina to reach your region, let us know: requests help us understand where to expand.
- It doesn’t handle matters unrelated to free-roaming cats. For a dog, a pet cat, or other animals, Animal Law Italia offers a guidance service for members and supporters: Write to the legal team on Pet Law.
In brief — What to know about Rete Felina’s legal service
How much does it cost? Nothing. Signing up, the colony register and reports to the team are all free. Rete Felina is a project of Animal Law Italia ETS, a non-profit Third Sector organisation.
Who can submit a report? Caretakers from groups affiliated with Rete Felina in Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sardinia, once the team has approved their account. Reports of abuse or animals in danger can be sent even before approval.
I already have an account on Pet Law: do I need to register again? No. Your Pet Law account also lets you sign in to Rete Felina, and vice versa.
I live in a different region: can I still write to you? You can sign up and use the colony register. For now the legal team only follows cases in the four regions where the project is active, but you can let us know you’re interested via the Get involved page.
I saw someone poisoning or abusing a cat from the colony: what can I do? Call 112 or the Carabinieri Forestali right away. Keep anything that could serve as evidence: photos, videos, the animal if it has died, the names of witnesses, and the presence of any nearby cameras. Then report the incident on legal.retefelina.it, even if your account hasn’t been approved yet.
If you care for a cat colony in Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata or Sardinia and something isn’t working, Rete Felina can help you: sign up and tell us about your case. We’ll support you in your dealings with the authorities, up to legal action when necessary.