No country on Earth has a national law that pays you to stay home with a sick pet. Not yet. Italy comes closest, and everywhere else “pawternity leave” is either a bill sitting in committee, an HR perk at one company, or just a hashtag.
We first reported Italy’s pet sick leave as a law that had passed. It hasn’t, and we have corrected that post. Since then the question we keep getting is some version of “does my country have this?” Short answer: almost certainly not yet. Here’s exactly where things stand, so you’re not googling this every few months.
Closest to law: Italy (court rulings plus a bill)
Italy’s position traces back to 2017, when a Rome academic won paid time off to nurse her sick English Setter, Cucciola, on the reasoning that leaving an animal to suffer is itself a legal wrong. A 2018 Court of Cassation ruling went further and accepted a pet’s urgent illness as a “serious personal or family reason” for leave, if a vet certifies it and nobody else can step in. A bill in the Chamber of Deputies would make it explicit for dogs and cats: three paid days when a pet dies and eight hours a year for illness or vet emergencies. It had not passed as of 2026, so no country has turned this into enforceable national law yet.
Bills: introduced, not passed (US)
Three US proposals have been introduced, and none has been signed into law:
- Missouri House Bill 3207 — would require employers to give bereavement leave, including a limited paid component, after a pet’s death.
- Illinois Senate Bill 1670 — would fold “covered companion animals” into the state’s existing Family Bereavement Leave Act (unpaid). It was listed as dead on 1 June 2026.
- New York Assembly Bill A.791 — would let employees use their already-accrued paid sick leave to care for a sick pet, not just themselves.
Bills like these get re-introduced every session and mostly die in committee — that’s normal for employment law, not a sign these three are close. Worth bookmarking, not worth expecting soon.
Watching: Spain
Spain has no pet-leave proposal in front of its legislature as of mid-2026, but Italy’s court rulings and bill are being cited there as a reference point for what a future rule could look like. That’s the entire status: interest, no bill.
Perk: what employers already give you, law or no law
This is the part that’s actually usable today, for some employees: a growing list of companies offer “pawternity” style leave voluntarily, no legislation required. Rover gives staff three days of paid bereavement leave when a pet dies. Several other companies offer new-pet “bonding” or adjustment leave — anywhere from a few hours to about a week, often needing a manager’s sign-off. None of this is standard, all of it depends entirely on where you work, and most Indian employers haven’t heard of it yet — but it’s real, and worth asking your HR team about directly rather than assuming the answer is no.
Where this leaves India
We found no Indian bill on pet leave — and given how far behind India still is on basic pet-friendly workplace norms, a Cucciola-style court case here is a long way off. What’s shifting is smaller and slower: a handful of startups now mention pawternity or pet-bonding leave in their benefits page, mostly as a hiring perk rather than a legal obligation. If you want it, ask for it in writing before you sign, because right now nothing guarantees it.
One more honest note: every one of these policies, proposed or real, assumes you already have the pet. If you’re still deciding, the dogs and cats waiting for adoption right now don’t care whether your employer has a pawternity policy — they just need the home. Get that part right first.
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