She thinks employers need to throw pet parents a bone.
Mary Rose Madigan, 28, from Sydney, Australia, claims pet owners don’t get enough respect in the workplace, writing in a personal essay that she’s “jealous” of working mothers because of their flexible working schedules.
“Do you need to pick your kids up from day care? Same, my son goes to doggie day care,” Madigan wrote in a first-person essay for News.com.au. “It is also very unaffordable, $42 a day, and it costs extra if I’m late! So, I must go.”
According to Madigan, flexible working hours should be introduced for people with fur babies, and they should be awarded “the same flexibility and understanding as mothers of human children.”
“I watch as working moms can head off early, introduce flexible hours or work from home more often with absolute envy,” she barked.
Madigan explained that adopting her Chihuahua Frank last year gave her a whole new leash on life, although she didn’t know how difficult it would be. She said the adoption added “an entire extra workload” in her life and that she doesn’t have access to the same benefits working mothers of human children do.
The journalist noted changes in her life, such as turning down social events to race home to her pooch and admitting work doesn’t feel “as important” anymore, as her priorities have shifted.
“I really wasn’t prepared for the mom guilt that hits you when you have a dog,” she wrote.
Madigan said she acknowledges that having a pet isn’t the same as having a human child, but thinks more workplaces should be open to making it easier to manage.
“I feel we need to push that same support towards moms with pets,” she added. “I know they aren’t children; I know I’m not a mom, and I can never understand the full extent of the burden, but I do love my dog more than I imagined was possible.”
Overall, Madigan said having Frank has made her realize how hard it is for working mothers to balance work and raising a family.
“Call me barking mad if you want, but not all of us will have kids,” she concluded the essay. “And I’m not ashamed to say that we also need space to dote on our dogs, cats and, hell, even pet lizards!”
