The article @joyfulkiwi: shared reminded me of a report I heard on the radio the other day about companies giving employees time off to care for pets: http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-28/uk-moving-paternitymaternity-leave-next-frontier-paw-ternity

I'm a dog lover, but my first reaction was to roll my eyes. But I know a man who did this--he has no children, worked for the same company for decades, and got a German Shepherd he was training for search and rescue work. I don't know how much time they allowed for him, but it seemed fair to me. I also agree with the boss from the radio report who said that it's good for morale, which in turn is good for business.