He casts a gloomy peek at you, mounts on your lap and makes every expression in the world to make you stay. But work is work, and off you must go. One of the toughest parts of being away at work for 12 hours a day is being away from your pet. It’s worse if he’s alone the entire time. But companies across the world, and especially in the US, are making pet lovers and owners very happy. Google, Zynga, Facebook are all pet friendly companies that let you bring your Cookie or Snooper to work and be a part of your work day. Pet studies have proven that having a pet around is good for morale and helps reduce stress levels.
While we wait and hope for India to allow laws to allow this beautiful office perk, here is a list of some famous companies that allow pets at work.
1. The story of Rufus at Amazon
The Seattle-based company has had a long history with pets. According to company lore, Rufus, a dog, was the first office compatriot and has been behind many paw-clicks at the e-commerce giant. After Rufus died, the company decided to leave his paw prints in his tribute in many ways including naming a building after him. “His name is stamped across many doors in the building and there is a help page on the website named after him.”, an employee informs.
Today the employees of the company enjoy a pet-friendly work culture, and at any given the office has droves of dogs, and a few cats lounging and kicking around. Additionally there are pet perks like dog biscuits at the reception desk and dog-friendly drinking fountains on campus.
2. This guy at P&G
Although they recently sold their pet holdings- Brands like IAMS, Nature and Eukanaba- P&G has a history of welcoming pets into the workplace. They’ve even sent a press release announcing the retirement of Euka, their V.P. of canine communications (who also happened to be a yellow Lab) and announced her successor, Pawl Griffin. “Griffin will handle his role well,” Jason Taylor, external relations manager, said in the official statement. “He’s young and eager, and he’s been trained by the best.”
3. These happy things at Etsy
According to its blog, “the dog-friendly office policy has been in place since Etsy began in 2005, and it’s one of the ways we strive to maintain a casual, creative, and inspiring work environment. In addition to sharing meals, riding bikes to our local farm to compost office waste, and volunteering, bringing our dogs to work helps keep spirits high and fosters a sense of community and connection that is paramount to what Etsy is all about”, employee experience manager Sarah Starpoli explains.
4. This curious dog at Trupanion
According to an employee at Trupanion, “Trupanion is a pet-friendly workplace that currently sees 30-40 dogs daily and the occasional cats. Our pets are required to be leashed to the owner’s desk or gated in with baby gates, so the pets aren’t allowed to wander around leaving dander everywhere. When hiring new employees, we make it very clear that we are pet-friendly and candidates also get a taste of this when they come in for an interview. If people are seriously allergic, then seating is taken into consideration. Our offices also get vacuumed daily. Generally, it’s not really an issue. If someone is allergic to pets, then they should stay and work at their desk rather than socializing with all the office pets.”
5. Office is but a Farm(ville) for these guys at Zynga
The popular gaming company is one of the most employee friendly companies in the world with perks like free food and liberal vacation policies. But what most people don’t know is that the company itself is named after the founder’s dog, Zinga, and its logo is inspired by him. The company headquarters are called “The Dog House” and employees can bring their dogs to work on certain days.
6. This guy at VM ware
The Palo Alto company, which specializes in cloud and virtualization software, has an “open campus” policy—open to family, friends, and dogs as well. Employees sign an agreement on dog etiquette while VWare’s security team equips their dogs with a tag and bandana. The policy dates back to 2011 when Deputy General Counsel Angela Padilla brought in a foster dog for adoption and noticed cross-department traffic increasing. The policy formalized three years later, and now there are 94 dogs registered to visit VMware.
7. This wishful dog in the Samsung Office
I went to see my boss in her office to be greeted by her fluffy friend 🙂 #petatwork #cutedogs @Samsung_RA pic.twitter.com/wvRkC3rPl0
— Irene Oh (@SRA_IreneOh) May 7, 2015
Even this Korean electronics giant which is sometimes in the news for its stressful work conditions and a rigid work cultur goes mellow when it comes to pets. A pet friendly policy aside, Samsung has also initiated a number of activities for dog adoption and care across Korea, UK and the US. Samsung has also recently created a $31k dog kennel “Dream Doghouse” that will be displayed at the annual dog show at Crufts, UK, which is also sposored by Samsung.
8. These cats the Magazine Store, Bangalore, India
Closer home in India, while dreams of having a pet at work may be far from coming true, this legendary bookstore in Bangalore boasts of helpful kitties around at all times. As you go through reams of book snippets and magazines, these Persian cats can be spotted purring away. Owned by Yahya Sait, Magazines allegedly gets more visitors than customers – all of whom come to see the cats. While Sait calls his cats his brand ambassadors, he feels extremely delighted for the number of visitors-turn-customers on a daily basis.
“I have never been so lucky like the way I am now. Today, I get most of my customers who come here just to see these cats. They come here first to see the cats, and then end up buying something. So much so – that the place has become a landmark for many,” explains Sait. “If somebody wants to meet his friend on Brigade Road, they come and stand here, tell the other one that ‘I am in the Magazines where you have all the cats’,” laughs Sait holding his favorite ‘Garfield’ and ‘Ludo’.
9. Boo at Facebook
A dog with his own Facebook page with over 17 million likes. It’s no wonder that this famous dog belongs to a Facebook employee. Commonly mistaken as Mark Zuckerberg’s dog, the dog actually belongs to the Facebook employee, Irene Ahn, a finance lead at Facebook.
Facebook, like most of the companies in the Silicon Valley boats of many perks, and pets at work is just one of them.
10. Puppy Force At SalesForce
Salesforce, the San Francisco cloud computing company, is also the home of Puppyforce. Puppyforce, which is what Salesforce’s official pet policy is called, lets up to six employees reserve desks in special communal room, where employees are allowed to bring in their dogs. The rooms are sound proof, feature water bowls, padded cages, dog beds, and cleaning wipes. Added pet perks include discounts on pet insurance, vet house calls, pet supplies, and dog walking.
11. Chilling at Google, Mountain View.
No surprises there. Pooches have been a part of the Google workplace culture for years. The search giant, in fact, makes it clear in its code of conduct that it’s a company that prefers dogs to cats and suggests employees leave feline friends at home. There are rules, though. Employees have to get approval from their managers and work neighbors to make sure everyone’s OK with it. Dogs aren’t allowed in meetings, break areas or on the sand volleyball court. And there’s a one-strike policy for messes or aggressive behavior.