A woman in Italy has been given the right to use family sick pay to look after her dog.

The librarian, who doesn’t want to be identified, is single and says she considers the dog, who she rescued from a park, to be her family.

She adopted Cucciola, 12, after she was found abandoned in a Rome park and took two days off to look after her as she recovered from surgery for a breast tumour and a larynx problem.

But she ended up in court, saying she shouldn’t lose payment for the days she didn’t go to work.

Her lawyers used Italy’s strict animal protection laws which say it is a crime to leave an animal to ‘grave suffering’, La Pressa reports.

She said she had no family who could have looked after Cucciola on her behalf.

The ruling means the woman does not have to use annual leave days to stay by the side of the English setter.

Italian animal advocacy group LAV says it helped persuade public La Sapienza University to let her use two days’ family sick leave.

LAV president Gianluca Felicetti said anyone who obtains a veterinarian’s certificate should enjoy the same benefit, citing Cucciola’s case as precedent.

The woman said Cucciola is recovering well from her operation.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Jen Mills

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]