Italian Leaves Home— and Pets—to Boston

Boston just got a new piece of real estate—in Italy. An Italian man whose mother and aunt lived in Boston left his estate to the city, the Boston Globe reports. But if Beantown wants it, it's going to have to do some petsitting. “The City of Boston, MA, USA, is obliged to look after the old dogs Argus and Jak,” says the will of Luciano Vissochi. Also, “To feed the cat Rossina, easily recognizable from her great size, as well as the cats: Giacchino, Rossino, Pasquale, Francesco, and others as well.’’

“It’s unbelievable. I want to know who is going to feed the cats and dogs,” says Boston’s mayor, Thomas Menino. Local politicians in Vissochi’s town of Altina might like the responsibility: they say the estate, reportedly worth $700,000, is rightfully theirs based on a stipulation in Vissochi’s first will, which he later changed. They’re planning a “war of documents” to win back the estate. Meanwhile, Menino is pondering what to do with the place. “I’ll send some departments out there that get on my bad side,” he says. (More Boston stories.)