“My dear Riboli,
I am sending You a letter from Lady Winter.
I ask of You to establish this Association by appointing the Lady as President and myself as a partner.
Yours,
G. Garibaldi”
On April 1st 1871, the ‘Società Protettrice degli Animali’ (Animal Protection Society) was born, thanks to this letter from G. Garibaldi to Timoteo Riboli. It was the first organisation of its kind in Italy, aimed at protecting working animals from abuse. In the 150 years that followed, the organisation elevated itself, growing both in terms of influence and size, to the point where it is now known as ENPA or ‘Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali’ (National Animal Protection Body), which extends its protection to all animals. Garibaldi wrote this letter upon the encouragement of Anna Winter, English countess and paladin of animal human rights, with whom he had a close correspondence, with the latter of the two immediately finding a sensitive ally in the Italian revolutionary.
Notwithstanding his past as a lover of hunting, one day Garibaldi adopted a completely different approach to the animal kingdom, even becoming a vegetarian.
Noticeable was the profound love he had for his grey horse, Marsala, a gift from the marquis Sebastiano Giacolone Angileri, after the Landing of the Thousand in the homonymous city. She proved to be an inseparable companion during the Unification of Italy, eventually granting her a life of freedom in the General’s Caprera estate, alongside the multitude of animals that Garibaldi had surrounded himself with on his retreat to the island, including 150 cows, 214 goats, 100 sheep, 25 kids, 400 hens, 50 pigs, 60 donkeys and two bulls).
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