How the Mafia’s cattle are terrorizing Italian villages | DW Documentary

In the southern Italian region of Calabria, in the municipality of Cittanova, hundreds of feral cattle are causing trouble. They’re eating crops and causing accidents. The problem is a relic of the great Mafia wars and a legacy of the ’Ndrangheta clan.

Herds of ‘sacred cows’ cause serious road accidents, destroy fences and ruin farmers’ crops. And they’re often deliberately used as a means of intimidation. Few people dare to speak out in protest.Giuseppe "Peppe” Morabito, a councilor in Cittanova, has been campaigning for years against the presence of these animals and the authorities’ silence. After his daughter was involved in a serious car accident with a bull, he set up the "No Bull” citizens’ initiative. He tirelessly travels through the rugged terrain to document the movements of the herds and the damage they cause. His aim: to persuade the state to act. But resistance is dangerous, for the cows are a symbol of power.Farmer Bruno Bonfà reports a similar experience. Herds of cattle repeatedly ravage his fields. Bruno believes this is a deliberate attempt to drive him off his land. This is because his father was murdered by the Mafia years ago, and Bruno has made public demands that the killers be unmasked and brought to justice.