Puggy makes history at the Italian senate.
A 12-year-old pug called Puggy on Thursday became the first dog to enter Italy's senate buildings under new rules allowing senators to bring their pets with them to work.
Michaela Biancofiore, group leader of the centre-right Noi Moderati in the senate, was joined by her inseparable Puggy in her office at Palazzo Madama in Rome.
The new regulations, in force since 31 January, authorises parliamentarians, their staff and senate employees to bring their animals to work, however the pets are not allowed access to the chamber.
Biancofiore told news agency ANSA that the senate is "finally adapting to what is the general feeling of Italians who increasingly care about their pets and prefer to have them close to them".
"It already happens in several large companies such as Unicredit or Lavazza and in the offices of many Italian municipalities such as Verona, Cremona, Milan" - Biancofiore said - "Animals can access hospital corridors and nursing homes. Why shouldn't they enter here?"
The move was approved last year by senate leader Ignazio La Russa who welcomed the proposal by Biancofiore with "maximum respect".
The idea was first launched by Michela Vittoria Brambilla, then deputy with the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) and now president of the parliamentary intergroup for animal rights and environmental protection which was established in 2018.
Brambilla was the first to bring her dog Sogno into parliament buildings in 2016 to support the proposal to include the protection of animals in the constitution.
Photo ANSA
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