Pet lover wins paid sick leave to take care of ailing pooch
Italian woman granted right normally reserved for parents
ROME— An Italian dog owner who wanted paid time off to care for one of her dogs offered her bosses a simple explanation: “They are my family.” It worked. In what a pet advocacy group called a groundbreaking decision, the woman’s employer changed its mind and gave the woman leave to care for her sick 12-year-old English setter.
The woman, an employee at Sapienza University in Rome, who was identified in Italian news reports only by her first name, Anna, lives alone and had to take off work to bring her dog to the veterinarian for surgery.
“I had asked for the paid allowance, honestly explaining what I needed it for — namely to care for my sick dog,” Anna said. “I later realized that they had counted those days as a holiday, and I got angry as a matter of principle.” An animal advocacy group, Lega Anti Vivisezione (LAV), helped Anna make her case to her employer and, the group said in a statement, the university eventually agreed to grant two days of paid leave. “The lady lives alone and had no alternatives to transport and assist the dog,” the group said.
LAV argued that owners who fail to take proper care of a pet could find themselves vulnerable to legal action, because it would amount to the mistreatment or abandonment of the animal, a crime under Italian law.
“Now, with the due medical and veterinarian certifications, all those who find themselves in the same situation will be able to cite this important precedent,” Gianluca Felicetti, the group’s chairperson, said.