Man 'forgets' dog on balcony, goes on holiday

(ANSA) - Bologna, August 26 - Bologna authorities on Friday seized a dog whose owner left him on a balcony for days while he went on holiday.
    Zeus, an 11-year-old Pinscher, spent days locked on a balcony in the sun as daytime temperatures rose above 30 degrees Celsius.
    Neighbors alerted authorities, who finally rescued the malnourished, exhausted dog and placed him under criminal seizure for negligence.
    The 47-year-old owner, named only as D.F., said he'd left the dog with his flatmate, who allegedly forgot to take care of him. "We are forever astonished at the nonchalance with which people 'forget' animals on sunny balconies and in scorching cars," said Paolo Venturi, the regional coordinator for the UN-affiliated International Animal Protection Organization (OIPA).
    "Seizure for neglect is mandatory in these cases, because the dog would not have survived much longer in those conditions," he added.