- One in 10 dog parents would like to take ‘pet-ernity leave’, new survey reveals
- Owners want designated leave to care for sick animals or to mourn the death of a pet
More than half of dog owners in Britain feel they should be entitled to the same rights to rest as parents, a new study shows.
One in 10 so-called dog parents would like to receive ‘pet-ernity leave’, a benefit similar to maternity or paternity leave that would provide dedicated leave to care for their dog, according to a study by Burns Pet Nutrition.
UK law states that workers can take ‘reasonable time off to deal with an emergency’, such as caring for a sick child or mourning a death in the family.
But dog owners are now demanding the same rights to care for their four-legged friends, who 67 per cent claim they consider ‘children’.
Pet abandonment has increased over the past few years among companies around the world and in a variety of sectors, from tech firms to pet food bands and even the beloved craft maker. Glasgow-based beer BrewDog, which adopted the policy.
The pet food manufacturer surveyed more than 2,000 pet owners on what kind of ‘parental rights’ they believe they should have.
Fifty-six percent said they don’t think they should dip into their vacation balance to take their dog to the vet, while 40 percent of participants indicated they would like to take time off to care for their sick pet. puppy at home
More than half are calling for compassionate leave to give them ‘sufficient time to grieve’ when their dog passes.
But the survey’s most surprising finding is that 15 percent of owners, or one in 10, feel they should get pet-ernity leave when their dog accepts the litter of puppies.
Twelve percent of owners also believe they should be allowed to come in late or leave work early to drop off or pick up their beloved dog from doggy day care.
But while dog owners appear to be in favor of pet-ternity programs, the general workforce may not be receptive to employers offering new dog or pet owners additional time off. .
UK-based recruitment firm Reed polled more than 2,600 people on LinkedIn in November last year and found that 58 percent were against leaving a pet. Twelve percent said employers should ‘probably’ offer parental leave as a benefit.
Millennials and Gen-Z dog owners appear to be the most passionate about pet parent rights, according to the Burns Pet Nutrition study, likely because they consider their dogs their children. .
Eighty-two percent of owners ages 18 to 24 said they view their pets as their children, with 21 percent of them being exclusive pet-parents.
Twenty percent of this age demographic believe they should receive parental leave.
Similarly, 14 percent of owners between the ages of 25 and 34, and 17 percent aged 35 to 44, believe they should be eligible for the benefit.
These beliefs stem from the fact that most owners feel that their pets are family members.
‘Dogs bring so much happiness and joy to a household, they really are part of the family,’ Burns Pet Nutrition Manager Laura Crotch Harvey told MailOnline.
‘So, when a dog is ill, it can be incredibly worrying for owners, and when the worst happens and the friendly face is gone, it can be truly devastating.
‘That’s why we return calls from dog owners hoping for help when it comes to getting time off work.’
Designated pet leave has been on the rise since around 2017, when some companies began announcing policies aimed at helping pet parents.
Scottish beer maker BrewDog is one of the first in the industry to offer staff new dogs during a week of ‘Puppy Parental Leave’.
The perk was made available to all crewmembers worldwide, with bosses at the time noting how ‘dogs have been central to the BrewDog way of life’ since its inception in 2007.
Several American companies made headlines in 2018 when the New York Times revealed that companies with good perks were offering employees paid ‘fur-ternity leave’ – despite the US still being the only industrialized country to there is no government mandated paid maternity leave.
