My manager was off today because her dog died on Saturday morning.

I think it depends on circumstances. My last two cats to die were old and sick, and when they were PTS I was sad but nothing I couldn't handle in the workplace. The cat who died before them was killed by a car driver, and I was a total mess over the violent and gruesome death of a very loved pet. Luckily I was working part time and the next couple of days weren't working days, otherwise I would probably have taken a day or two of annual leave.

If she's overwhelmed by grief, uncontrollable bursts of crying throught the day, then she won't be much use working regardless of where the work place is!

I've seen people this overwhelmed by grief from losing smaller animals than a dog & even they are shocked by how much it affected them for several days. Compassion please people.

I don’t think it’s ridiculous. Dogs are special companions and people think of them as part of the family. As pp say it’s not extra paid leave so why shouldn’t she choose to take a day off?

im not a dog person at all but can see how much they mean to others.

Why not a pet guinea pig? I’ve had one of mine 8 years, longer than some dogs live

Apologies duplicate post

Both my son’s dogs were put to sleep this year and we were all heartbroken. They were both 13.
The children were really affected as he had always been there so they didn’t know life without him.
It’s heartless to not understand it’s a loss of a member of the family. YABU.

We don't all love our pets in the same way though. Some people have a closer bond with animals than others do. Some pet owners can function after loss, others cannot.

Suffering often makes people more callous, not more empathetic.

A friend of mine took 3 months off when his dog died.

He works for the civil service...he still has a job.

If you feel you need time off for your cats and it's offered, then take it. If you don't, then don't. But stop holding other people to your own experiences and feelings.

YABVU. Pets are family. When she goes, I will miss my cat more than I will some of my human relatives.

The dog was her pet. We all love our pets of course.

You would get 5 days in my public sector organisation, of special leave. Then you’d be expected to be signed off. It doesn’t sound very compassionate but special leave for bereavement is for sorting the admin etc of a funeral, not to grieve as such. No-one would be expecting a bereaved parent back, they’d be signed off by their GP as unfit for work.

This.

As a society, to flourish, we need as many people as possible to have a work ethic as well as the mental health and resilience to back it up.

We need to try to show empathy and sympathy, but we cannot encourage time off for pet death, as, along with things like transgender ideology and unlimited immigration, the more we go down these routes the nastier and more damaging the far right backlash (which will inevitably one day come) will be.

A dog is not a child not even comparable

I'm not sure I'd want to be operated on by a surgeon who (because they too are human beings) was too upset to focus 100% on what they were doing.

YABU.
The dog is her child.

Are you really that naive?

She had the day-off. We have no idea whether she felt she needed the day off, she might be a piss-taker for all you and me know.

By the same token, you probably wouldn’t be overly thrilled at being operated on by a surgeon to distraught to differentiate one end of a scalpel from another.

In terms of where to draw the line, that can be a bit of a puzzler when it comes to humans too: aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandmas, etc, etc?

Then why the lack of empathy?

I wouldn’t want a surgeon operating on me if they were feeling so upset and crying etc, I’d rather it was rearranged.

As an animal person I do find it ridiculous. Where does it end? I've had staff say they're not coming in because their rabbit died.
I've lost many pets from hamsters to horses and, yes, I was heartbroken but have enough of a work ethic to not take time off.

I just couldn't feel any empathy for this. I have no issue with people taking time off for whatever reason. If they need it they need it. But feeling empathy for them is a whole different thing. If something truly horrific happened to someone I know and I felt true empathy towards them I would likely think about them a lot, feel that sick feeling in my stomach, lose sleep, possibly cry etc I would really struggle to feel that over a rabbit or any pet to be honest.

Then you deserve some compassion and some time off too. Do you think maybe that’s why you find her taking leave annoying?

Where does one draw the line? What about a pet guinea pig? And does it depend on one’s job? Can’t imagine many people would be happy to have their surgery rearranged because the surgeon’s dog had died a couple of days beforehand.