New from Japan:
A Japanese company is offering its employees a monthly "pet allowance" to help with the upkeep of their cats and dogs.
Kyoritsu Seiyaku, which makes animal medicines, said pets were a lifelong obligation for their owners.
Kyoritsu Seiyaku is offering its pet-owning employees about $9 (£4.70) per month, and hopes the system will spread to other Japanese firms.
The company does not, however, offer paid leave when employees' pets die.
"For now, we have introduced only the allowances, but we want to consider the condolence holiday system in future," a spokeswoman for Kyoritsu Seiyaku told Reuters news agency.
Employees may be keen to take advantage of this in the future.
The Japan Pet Food Manufacturers' Association estimates that the country's cat and dog population of nearly 18 million animals is ageing rapidly, after a boom in ownership in the early 1990s.
Analysts say that many Japanese families are deciding to put off having children, and buy pets instead.
Many older people are living alone and keep pets as companions.
"Everyone has the right to own a pet, but they also have the obligation to raise the pet for its whole life," Kyoritsu Seiyaku said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
MY COMMENTS: Well, I would not use the verb 'own' in this context. That verb would be better used to mean 'take care of', 'look after'. Speaking from my personal experience, of course. I think it is very healthy for people to have animals around them and to live together with animals. There is no harm in this. On the contrary, people certainly benefit from having animals in their households - something we call pet therapy. I think that local authorities, including companies and businesses everwhere, should consider encouraging their employees not only to take daily exercise but also to keep pets in their households. In that manner, employees go to work in a fresher frame of mind and be able to work and concentrate much more.
It is interesting to note that the Japanese company in question is also considering leave in case of pet bereavement. This is something which is lacking so much in our so-called civilised society of the West.
Then, let us go one step further and concentrate about Malta, where we don't even have decent means of disposing of the mortal remains of our pets, or other animals. Well, the Government would tell you, there is always the local BICCERIJA! Just go and dump the animal carcass in a corner of the BICCERIJA and the people working there would see to it at the end of the day! As if that is a decent enough ending/goodbye to that animal whom you loved and cherished for so many years within the comfort of your own home!!!!!!! At least, we should have a decent place, a proper field, organised enough to allow pet-'owners' to 'dispose' of their loved animals 'a quattro zampe' in a decent manner. Or, much better still, how about a decent (I keep repeating this word!), proper crematorium for animals?
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