Italian museums are offering visitors dog-sitting services | Lifestyle [Video]

(CNN) — Several Italian museums are offering a solution to the age-old conundrum faced by dog owners – should they go out without their beloved pet or simply stay at home with their four-legged friend?

Instead of having to make this decision, owners were able to leave their pets with dog-sitters for free at four museums in Rome on Sunday, including at the National Etruscan Museum and the Castel Sant’Angelo.

Created and run by the company Bauadvisor, it aims to more easily allow dog owners to visit museums in a country where there are more than 8 million dogs, according to a report published by the trade body representing the European pet food industry.

Normally, a paid version of the service operates at 290 museums in 53 cities across Italy. One of the company’s 400 dog-sitters meets the owner outside the museum and takes the dog for a walk in the green spaces nearby before …