South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 17

MS Sun-Sentinel, Wednesday, April 7, 1999 1 7A DATELINE Helping Children All Year Long 1 red ca ts rampe facing from eviction ush isle TAX PROFESSIONALS FREE CONSULTATION: 800-925-9609 Lauderdale 85 Offices In The U.S. DAY JOB iwtimiM 3 this we ISSUE Mi S3i Children's Fund SHARP Consumer's 1 Rated Powerful, Yet Easy to Push Protective By-Pass Motor On-Board Attachments allergyff.ee VACUUMS Weighs Only 8 lbs. Cleans Carpets Bare Floors 35 Foot Cord M99 FOR HOTEL OR HOME 99 i HI flu li GSIiggP 1 TfiHiV Dirt. CAN VAC I ft lua ta Mm I 4 I Hill I 1 1 niMMIMKHpwa cmkrifMaiM You have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch the busy business of hiring day laborers. miss City Link's Best of Issue, April 14, 1S33 Mail your contribution to: Sun-SanthMt Chlldran'i Fund 200 East Las Oias Boultvard Fort Laudardala, Florida J3301-2293 lUil roui ids H00 Card jl ruuu tWith On-Board Attachments 12 AMPS 9" HOOVER 41WIMD TUNNEL SUPER TILE ft BROOM tt agreed to accept the cat shelter temporarily, and only on the condition that the city also build a soccer field and a small park near the site.

"Maybe I'm being duped," he said. "But how can we resolve this? Kill the cats?" Other Lido residents are skeptical and say they think that the cat colony will take the place of a soccer field. "Our kids will have to pay 10,000 lire" nearly $6 "to go play elsewhere when they could have played here for free," complained Arturo Longo, 75. "It's a disgrace." Gianni Gusso, a member of the neighborhood association, said he was opposed to the cat shelter because once there, it might not easily be dislodged. "In Venice, temporary means anywhere from one year to eternity." BrandsMart USA.

RE: Wed, April 7th BrandsMart USA 6-Page Outsert. On page 2 of this outsert: SHARP model UX-108 FAX MACHINE features a paper cutter. This Is incorrect. This model does not feature a paper cutter. We apologize for any Inconvenience this may have caused.

CORRECTION NOTICE I I i 0 iri Ait i Ciiy 1 si Fnr.ri 1 ri wuU i I i I Area I 1 -W 'j I 'U il I South Florida Falrq Expo Center West Palm Beach April 10 a 11 10am 6pm Adults s600Childrcn with Publix Cookie VETERAN IRS AGENTS FREE SPECIAL REPORT: "How To End IRS Problems" 888-807-7464 )K HARRIS COMPANY Ft. ma you cant And on of these then call us at 954.356.4001 for a location near you. lliiiri Innri tin 1H1. iU Mi 1 WP8 I "SIT Hi WE III I hunhiiilliic Don't I 1 11 miI.ii jVenice torn over felines I BY ALESSANDRA STANLEY The New Times i VENICE, Italy Rich tourists jn Venice flock to the island of Giudecca, site of the Cipriani Hotel. Homeless cats take up residence on San Clemente, a lush jsland nearby on the lagoon.

The pat shelter's menu is not as varied as the hotel's, but feline guests are served fresh pasta With kidney sauce every day by doting volunteers from the animal rights organization Dingo. The volunteers are not happy about the city's plans to evict San Clemente's 250 sick or stray cats and relocate them to a smaller, damper strip of land on the Lido. Neither, for that matter, are the elected leaders of the neighborhood where the cats are destined. I San Clemente, which was sold at auction in February to a real-estate development consortium, is Venice's latest attempt to brighten its economic prospects. But as with almost all such efforts, planning for the future eeps getting tangled up in Venice's past.

The dispute, moreover, is covered by a thick fog of bureaucratic confusion and mistrust over what exactly is the plan for San Clemente and its cats. I It can get ugly. One local Lido Official complained that his political opponents were spreading a umor that the cats had AIDS to prevent their transfer there, i Ten years ago, Dingo persuaded the city to open a cat clinic and sanctuary on San Clemente, an ancient pilgrimage site that in the 19th century served as an in-Sane asylum and was finally closed down in 1992. Imposing 19th-century buildings are still intact, as is an exquisite Baroque fchurch, though it was stripped of its-most precious artworks by thieves in 1992, when the island was uninhabited and unguarded. Now, a guard and three watchdogs keep strangers away.

Sick cats are tended by volunteers in a clinic inside one of the abandoned buildings. Healthier cats live outdoors in the rambling ivy-covered garden, sleeping in wooden sheds and playing in large cages set amid chestnut Jtrees. "I shudder at the idea they will leave this haven, especially those Who grew up here," said Stefania Caruso, 40, a Dingo volunteer who has looked after the San Clemente cats for the past four years. "They are trusting. They don't understand danger." Cats in Venice have reason to be trusting.

Venetians believe lhat cats helped save their city from the devastating plague of 1348 by killing diseased rats and beat them with deference. Thirty years ago, more than 12,000 stray jcats roamed the streets, and many were sick and starving. In 1964, an English tourist, Helena Sanders, was so appalled that she and Venetian cat lovers formed bingo, which now maintains several cat colonies in Venice, including San Clemente. Venice was the first Italian city to pass an animal rights act, in 1987 and it guarantees stray cats an area to Jive in freedom. The city provides noney for food, and caters to the powerful animal lovers' lobby.

Venice has succeeded in controlling its cat population, about 5,000. But it is unable to prevent the exodus of Venetians, who keep fleeing the island for better jobs and cheaper housing on the mainland. The city has about 70,000 residents, many over 60. San Clemente may be repopu-jated one day, but the residents jwill be short-term tourists. Com-pagnia Finanziare di Investimen-to, the real-estate consortium that includes Benetton, the clothing manufacturer, bought it for million.

The company expects to spend $40 million in restorations before selling it to a hotel chain as a 300-room luxury hotel and conference center. Cats are not part of the package. "I love cats, but 200 is too many," said Aldo Mazzoco, a director of the real-estate consortium. "Our deal was that the city would take them away." That was supposed to happen December, but the deadline expired as Venetians debated, Sandro Cicogna, president of the neighborhood association of Ma-lamocco, on the Lido, said he had VACUUM TUNE-UP SPECIAL Only 1 Q95 Includes: Belts, Check Brushes, I Agitator, Motor, Eelcthcal, Check Outer Bag Replace Paper Bag 1 (Plus Parts) with coupon only 10 AMPSl w9 Expires 43199 NttkinwM farrw(rrHit MoiiHeaiWn iervtot I L. Sponsored By: 1 cr: 1 Oil COLUMBIA Hospital Children's Fund Pubiix Palms West Hospital 3433 (UlM A rmduot of lh Bun-Snllnl Company MtTtCAL QSaiitt MOllll ROCK CUMBINO PAinr IRtORNSlilTrf Sun-Sentinel Iccrbcr Tmj Sprint PCS.