Saving Strays In Naples

"Mia Mattsson-Mercer knows she can’t save them all, but she can try.

So several days a week, she dons her vest and boots, and grabs several pairs of protective gloves, then heads out in her SUV on missions to rescue stray dogs that roam the suburbs of Naples.

She’s rather busy.

There is no shortage of strays and, sadly, no shortage of those in the greatest need — the dying, sick and injured.

"I could lie around all day and read books … and eat bonbons, but this is my responsibility, my passion," said the tall, lean, Swedish-born volunteer with startling blue eyes.

In 1999, she started the non-profit foundation Animals without Limits to rescue and treat stray dogs in war-torn countries.

Those who no longer can afford to care for pets sometimes abandon them along the highways, she explains. Or children might torture dogs to allay their own suffering — something she saw often while working in war-stricken Bosnia and Herzegovina nearly a decade ago."