Italian museums have started offering free dog-sitting services in a bid to boost visitor numbers. The scheme, initiated by the Bauadvisor dog services company, launched on Sunday in Rome at four major cultural sites, among them the Museum of the Ara Pacis, the MAXXI museum of contemporary art, and Castel Sant’Angelo. Forty dog owners reportedly used the service on its opening day. The service, which can be booked online, will tour 15 tourist hot spots across Italy for one day each month until April 2026. Dog owners will be able to leave their pets with trained minders at the entrances of selected museums. The dogs will then be walked and fed while their owners roam free inside each institution. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice will begin offering the dog sitting service on February 7. The Uffizi Galleries in Florence and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples have signed up to launch these services on September..
