The appeal of the ‘influencer’ priest: “Don’t abandon your dogs”

Friends do not abandon each other. So why do you do it with your dogs? The priest who depopulated on the web with a following of 111 thousand followers on Instagram, Don Cosimo Schena, renamed for his poems and for his constant encouragement ‘the poet of love’, is fighting on social networks to raise awareness among those who have adopted animals , not to get rid of them by abandoning them before the summer holidays, as has unfortunately happened in recent years. According to the data provided by the Eurispes Research Institute, the dog is at the top of the ranking of animals in Italian homes, 44.7% of the population owns at least one, but with the arrival of the summer season the number of abandoned dogs increases and to impress in the post-pandemic era is also the amount of restitution of the four-legged friends. “The love that our furry dogs give us is incredibly immense and disarming, we must not abandon animals”, says Don Cosimo Schena, who constantly spends words in favor of adopting dogs, “living beings and creatures of God who have need love and protection just like a person “. In all his contents on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram (@doncosimoschena) the Apulian priest never misses an opportunity to preach love in all its forms: love for God, the love for family, love for friends and the inevitable love for dogs, which have always been man’s best friends. The undisputed star of her digital channels is Tempesta (@tempestaebaloo), the lucky dog ​​who never misses a moment of her owner’s life. “When I accompanied a friend to choose a beagle in a kennel I didn’t have to take a dog – says the priest – I saw this puppy in a box, she was dying, the breeder gave her two days to live, but thanks to the doctors and the love that accompanied her on her path of suffering, Tempesta is healed and I now have a very faithful life partner “. The story of Tempesta is the one that Don Cosimo wishes to the many dogs that are abandoned on the street or taken back to shelters every day . “Every type of bond must always be nurtured with patience, even the one with our furry friends, they must be pampered not abandoned”, he reminds the owners. And if social networks are Don Cosimo’s preferred method of communication to get in touch with a great number of people, it is precisely here that among the copious requests for prayer, support and advice that he receives every day on his pages, the poet of love has asked something from his large group of followers: a home for Baloo. “A few months ago I saw a big dog wandering around the Santa Rosa district of Brindisi. I had been trying to recover it for a week without success. One day I found him dying in the garden of my Church. I took him, I took care of him. , I looked for a house for him, but all the people who contacted me were not really interested in adopting Baloo. On February 14, precisely on Valentine’s Day, I decided to keep him with us. With Tempesta they go d ‘ agreement, they are my shadows. “Don Cosimo has managed to transform a place of mere entertainment into a community of people who believe in love and support each other in moments of weakness. The comments and likes on his profile reach influencer numbers not only when he shares his poems, but also when it comes to praying for others. The warning he wants to share is: “Sometimes a ray of sunshine is enough to change perspective and start a new life. Let’s give our four-legged friends the opportunity to do it too”.