Lav opens the first social veterinary clinic in Rome

TO Rome Work and the Community of Sant’Egidio they opened the first one Social veterinary clinicavailable to all who have a dog or a cat but are experiencing financial hardship. It will offer free visits, interventions and treatments to all those who have difficulty accessing it in any other way and will represent a real veterinary facility that will guarantee animals the right to treatment.

It will help the animals of 400 people every year

The opening of the structure, which in the first year of activity aims to help at least 400 people in difficulty with an estimated cost of between 80 and 100 thousand euros, represents a breath of fresh air for the many in difficulty, the so-called “fragile” categories who in a now inattentive and perpetually troubled capital are becoming more and more but who often, instead, find comfort, affection and company in the small pets with whom they share their days.

As in the case of Mrs. Anna and hers Chicca, who share their lives in Testaccio, or as in the case of Rosi and Franco who, despite living in a camper parked on the side of a road in a neighborhood in the city centre, did not hesitate to welcome the foundlings Ginger, Kevin and Nikita. Everyone wanted to be present at the inauguration and were the first to enjoy the attention and care of the veterinarians who, in the brand new clinic, will take care, free of charge, of the pets of those in Rome who live in difficulty.

Another guest of the clinic with her cat (credits: @Lav)

Local presence for vulnerable people

“THE’social veterinary clinic will offer free visits, interventions and treatments. It is a veterinary device that will guarantee animals the right to treatment – he explains Alessandra Ferrariresponsible for the LAV family animals area – a concrete landing point for the activities that LAV has been carrying out for years in collaboration with Sant’Egidio so as not to leave the elderly and families alone who share their lives with a dog or a cat”.

The activities of the clinic, which cost 170 thousand euros, will be supported by the members of LAV which in this way wants to intervene, with the support of the Community of Sant’Egidio with which it began to collaborate since the time of Covid, both in favor of animals and in favor of the most socially fragile families. «Responding directly to the needs of people living with social fragility, thanks to the donations of our members, is a source of pride for LAV, because we can intervene in a double capacity – adds Ferrari – by caring for animals and preventing family separations, abandon or neglect and mistreatment”.

Mrs. Anna and the dog Chicca (credits:@Lav)

Felicetti, president of LAV: «now it’s up to the institutions»

At the ribbon cutting of the new clinic, as well as Gianluca Felicettipresident of LAV e Massimiliano Umani of the Community of Sant’Egidio, representatives of the Capitoline administration were also present. «Volunteering that carries out concrete actions, that helps animals and people. But the objective of social veterinary medicine must be made its own by public administrations and the Government, also through a law – underlined Felicetti. – Networking volunteers, freelance veterinarians and the public veterinary of the local health authorities is possible and necessary to respond to a segment of the population increasingly in difficulty in their relationship with animals”