Italy made history as the first country in the world to formally enshrine employees' right to paid time off due to a pet's illness. In March 2026, the country officially recognized that caring for a seriously ill pet could be grounds for paid absence from work, according to dogdeskanimalaction.co.uk.

Under the new rules, employees are entitled to take up to three paid days off per year to care for a sick pet. However, there are clear conditions: the employee must provide an official document from a veterinarian confirming the animal needs emergency care. Furthermore, the dog or cat must be officially registered and microchipped.

The legal basis for the new regulation was laid by a court ruling issued back in 2017. At the time, an employee of Rome's Sapienza University won paid leave to care for her sick dog. The ruling relied on Article 727 of the Italian Criminal Code, which criminalizes the abandonment of animals in a state of suffering. This case, known as the "Cucciola case," classified emergency care for a pet as a "serious personal or family reason" under labor law.

The initiative was actively supported by animal welfare organizations, who insisted that no owner should have to choose between their career and the welfare of a suffering animal.