Italian academic granted time off to care for sick dog

An Italian academic who claimed paid sick days in order to care for her ill dog has won a case against her employer.

The woman, who works for Rome’s La Sapienza University, was brought to court after she took two days off to care for 12-year-old English Setter Cucciola after the animal underwent surgery.

But she won the case, with help from lawyers of the Italian Anti-Vivisection League, after a judge ruled the absence counted as ‘serious or family personal reasons.’

It is the first such ruling by an Italian court, and could set an important legal precedent to be used in future cases. 

The argument also hinged on a law which calls for a £9,000 fine or a year in jail for those who abandon an animal to ‘grave suffering’. 

The Anti-Vivisection League, or LAV, is one of the biggest animal rights groups in Europe, the organisation said.

The group’s president, Gianluca Felicetti, said: ‘It is a significant step forward that recognised that animals that are not kept for financial gain or their working ability are effectively members of the family.

‘Now, with the necessary veterinary certification, those in the same situation will be able to cite this important precedent.’ 

The woman won her case Rome’s La Sapienza University (pictured) after a judge ruled the absence was for ‘serious or family personal reasons’