SHEFIK: folklorizovane dezinfo imho:
claude:
This exact story recurs. In 2017 the identical claim circulated about Vesuvius fires; the Forestry Corps denied it and a vet noted no such animals had ever come through the Istituto Zooprofilattico for autopsy. A 2025 Italian fake-news review still lists the "arsonist cats" of Vesuvius as a false story that resurfaces cyclically because it's built on powerful emotional archetypes.
The delayed-ignition devices are mundane and credible; a panicking cat is a uselessly unreliable ignition method by compariso
...
Not fabricated by the account, but not verified either — and it has a strong smell of a recurring Italian urban legend.
What's actually documented:
- The claim traces to Domenico Costarella, director general of Calabria's regional Civil Protection, in a video posted on the social channels of regional president Roberto Occhiuto. (Sky TG24) He described finding delayed ignition devices — candles topped with rags soaked in flammable liquid, and empty glass bottles with soaked wicks (Sky TG24) — and then added that in some cases they found cats with a rag soaked in flammable liquid tied to the tail, thrown into fields. (Sky TG24)
- AIDAA's €1,000 bounty is real