Veterinary hospital will offer free medical visits to pets.

Rome is to establish its first public veterinary hospital as part of a €6 million expansion and redevelopment of the municipal Muratella kennels, the city announced this week.

The hospital, which is set to open in 2024, will offer free medical treatment to pets and its emergency room will be active 24 hours a day.

The facility will be built in a 670-sqm site within the kennels on Via della Magliana and will include two operating rooms, diagnostic laboratories, an intensive care unit and an isolation area for contagious diseases.

#Roma avrà il suo primo #ospedaleveterinario pubblico. La Giunta ha avviato il percorso per la completa riqualificazione e l’ampliamento del canile di Muratella e la realizzazione di una struttura con accesso gratuito ai servizi di cura per gli animali. https://t.co/m80mPmUw7c pic.twitter.com/5jwpJBdyYp

— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) November 11, 2022

The hospital will be equipped "with the latest generation equipment and will also offer treatment services to low-income users who cannot access private assistance", stated the city's environment councillor Sabrina Alfonsi.

• How to adopt a dog in Rome

It is not yet clear how the system will work with regard to availing of the free medical care, neither has it been specified whether the services will be open only to Rome residents or also to those living outside the capital.

Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri has hailed the project as "an important step in protecting the well-being of our four-legged friends." For full details see city website.