An Italian army reservist is to be prosecuted after saving the life of a dying cat

An Italian army reservist is to be prosecuted after saving the life of a dying cat in Kosovo. 

Barbara Balanzoni, who was serving as a medical officer at a Nato base, saved the cat but has been 
charged with insubordination. 

She was appeared at a military court last week. 

The Lieutenant has now returned to Tuscany where she is an anesthetist. 

It was claimed that Lieutenant Balanzoni ignored an order issued by her commanding officer in May 
2012 which prevented troops 'bringing or having brought in wild, stray or unaccompanied animals'. 

The cat, called Agata, was unable to deliver her kittens which were stillborn. 

Lieutenant Balanzoni told the Guardian: 'If the cat had died, the entire area would have had to be 
disinfected. 

'What is more, the surviving kittens could not have been fed. So they too would have died and created an even greater public health problem.' 

Prosecutors believe she may have been causing a health hazard, because she was bitten and had to be taken to hospital in Germany for a rabies vaccine.

She described the bite as 'only a scratch'. 

Lieutenant Balanzoni has the backing of Italy's oldest animal defence association, the Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali, which has agreed to take up the case. 

The trial is expected to take place soon.