One hundred thirty-two thousand points, equivalent to 1188 euros.
This is the amount in euros of the points of the Esselunga supermarket that were subtracted from the Bergamo animal rights association Anima Libera Onlus which manages the kennel of Grignano, a hamlet of Brembate. Result of the generosity and donations received from the kennel’s friends.
The theft occurred after the association published on its Facebook page the code of the Fidaty card to which to allocate some of its points of the supermarket chain with which it is possible to buy objects for the home, appliances, technological devices or, even, to obtain discounts for wellness trips. Or, they can be used as a shopping voucher because each point is equivalent to “cash”.
“As President of the Animalibera Onlus association – he tells us Antonella Gemelli – I published a post on ‘our’ Facebook page, inviting those who had the intention and the possibility to donate us expiring Fidaty points for the purchase of food, pesticides, detergents and everything that can be used for management of a structure like ours that ‘lives’ exclusively thanks to the generosity of benefactors ”.
“On the morning of Thursday 8 April I then received a message from Esselunga confirming the use of 132 thousand points of my Fìdaty Card. But I had never used my card – Gemelli continues to explain – The problem is that Esselunga allows you to collect points or turn them into shopping vouchers even just by showing the photograph of the card and without asking for an identity card or a document of identification. recognition belonging to the owner. And so it happened: whoever carried out the theft will have shown the photograph of the card published on social media and in this way was able to subtract over € 1000 of expenditure “.
For a kennel, those points mean important donations for all of its four-legged guests in need with which to buy food, pesticides, detergent and much more: necessary to keep alive the onerous expenses of maintaining a kennel.
“Many people do not realize it, but behind a dog ‘ready’ to be adopted, there are numerous expenses including veterinarian, chip, medical care and much more that are borne only by the generosity of people since a kennel does not receive any subsidy, in addition to the voluntary 5 × 1000 – continues the president of the animal rights non-profit organization – For us those points and that money meant a lot, I could have paid the pesticides for the whole summer. It is a great regret and I hope that person committed the theft because he had real needs for sustenance ”.
Antonella Gemelli, after making a formal complaint to Esselunga, received the response from the supermarket chain that they will collaborate with the law, making images from the security cameras available, thus making it possible to identify the person who illegitimately stole the Fidaty points. . Also ensuring that they will evaluate ways to compensate the loss of the non-profit organization.
Meanwhile, a complaint was made against unknown persons.
“In particular, I hope this fact sheds light on the importance of reviewing the way in which points can be withdrawn so that no more offenses occur,” concluded Gemelli.
