Animals at the Office

I wrote this story for the Puget Sound Business Journal as a freelancer. The PSBJ published it April 1, 1991, but it was not an April Fool's joke.

When Beryl Gorbman goes to work, so does Doopie.

Gorbman is president of The Write Stuff Inc., a technical publications and translation firm in the University District. Doopie, a black Labrador-Newfoundland mix that Gorbman picked up for free at a garage sale, has been a fixture in the office for more than a year.

"I think Doopie really enjoys coming to work," says Gorbman. "If I go out in the morning and don't take her, because I have to go to a lot of appointments, she's devastated."

Having animals in the office "takes some of the starch out of your collar," says Robert Patchell, who has three dogs at Exhibit Team, a Redmond-based firm that designs and manufactures trade show exhibits.

Patchell has had dogs at work for most of the seven and a half years he's been in business. Two of the dogs there now were strays coaxed in from a nearby park.

Not only do they take some of the starch out, but animals can make an office a healthier, less stressed place to be. Veterinarian Tina Ellenbogen numbers many working pets among her clients, in part because she goes to the patient, calling at her patient's house or office, as the case may be. She says animals are a great stress-reliever.

"Physically, petting an animal reduces blood pressure, whether you're normal or hypertensive," Ellenbogen says. "That's been documented."

Because animals usually are friendly, non-threatening, and non-judgmental, she says, they act as good social bridges between people. "They defuse a lot of tension because they don't take sides."

One of Ellenbogen's former patients was a parrot who commuted by bus to a downtown office with her attorney owner. She says, "People would come in and talk to the bird to take a break and reduce the stress of the day."

There's no doubt that having animals around changes the atmosphere of the workplace.

This is true both for the people who work there and for visitors, which is why some dentists and pediatricians have aquariums--watching the fish reduces blood pressure, anxiety, and stress in nervous patients.

Linda Hines, executive director of the Delta Society, a Seattle-based national organization that studies human-animal bonding, says that people with animals are seen as friendlier and more approachable, and that the same should be true for places with animals.

"Places with animals are seen as friendlier places to be," she says.

Psychotherapist Dennis Azaroff, who takes his dog Daisy to work on occasion, says, "I guess work is changing."

"My clients love Daisy," he says, "and sometimes they'll come in and ask why she hasn't been there lately, and they seem to really enjoy having her around.

"And I do have clients who come over ad ask if they can take Daisy for the afternoon or take her for a walk."

But he says the animal is not a formal part of his work.

Some animals do play a professional role in their owner's business, however.

Megan Wallace, whose husband Bob started the software company Quicksoft Inc., is a professional artist who drew an appealing cat to use as a company logo in manuals, newsletters, catalogs, and at trade shows. "When we started Quicksoft," she says, "we wanted to use a cat as our symbol, because cats are quick and soft."

But it was only after she had drawn the logo that the company acquired its cat, Micro-Soft, named for Microsoft Corp., the firm where Bob got his start.

The Wallaces, who already had several cats at home, went to a local animal shelter to find a cat that looked like the one she had drawn.

"We were using my drawings of the cat before we actually got the cat in 1985," Wallace recalls.

She says Micro-Soft was a very effective marketing tool for the firm:

"People really loved the cat. We'd go to trade shows and people would come and tell us stories about their cats. They'd write us letters. We never solicited them, but they would send pictures of their cats in the mail, from all over the world."

One drawback was that Quicksoft couldn't hire people who were allergic to felines.

"Of course, when people were applying for employment, we had to ask them if they were allergic to cats," Wallace says. "We had a few who were, and of course we couldn't hire them."

The Wallaces sold Quicksoft to Leo Nikora in January [1991], and Bob Wallace now works for the firm as a programmer out of a home office, with Micro-Soft by his side. "He moved his office home and the cat went with him," says Wallace.

Most of the workplaces that welcome animals are small businesses or entrepreneurial firms where the owner is an animal lover. There are no warm and fuzzy creatures on the premises of The Boeing Co., for example. Russ Young of Boeing's corporate communications department says the only animals at Boeing are guide dogs for the visually impaired.

"That's the only animals that I'm aware of that would be on the premises," says Young.

After all, professionalism is an issue when there are pets underfoot.

"Not all clients find it professional," admits Patchell of Exhibit Team. "We try to keep the dogs away from where they'd be."

Gorbman agrees that some clients may be put off by Doopie.

"I don't care," she shrugs. "We run our office the way we want to.

"So we have clients who think that's a nice way to run an office. Or they judge us on the quality of our work--which I hope they would do."

Ellenbogen thinks the response to pets at work is more favorable than not:

"Will your customers mind? Unofficial data seems to suggest that's not the case. It makes for a more relaxed atmosphere for everybody."

Before bringing in a cat or dog from home or acquiring a new pet for the office, however, there are a couple of serious issues to be considered: safety and suitability.

Veterinarian Skip Nelson of the Exotic Pet and Bird Clinic in Kirkland has a menagerie of office pets at his clinic, including Charlie the parrot, B.D. the ferret, a couple of rabbits, a cockatiel, and a rat.

Nelson cautions that any birds that come into contact with the public should be checked regularly for parrot fever, which can be spread to humans through a sick bird's droppings.

"I would have a great deal of difficulty with a bird in a public place that was not thoroughly examined," he says.

Ellenbogen says people who are considering bringing pets to work should screen the animals. "You don't just bring any animal to work," she says. "You don't bring a dog that's going to run and charge out and bark at your customers."

She says she tries to help people realize that they can select pets for temperament. And she suggests talking to a veterinarian or the Delta Society about the type of animal that would be compatible and also about the suitability of an individual animal.

Still, the most important consideration is probably whether or not you like animals--if you don't, bringing one into the workplace is not likely to reduce your stress level.

Gorbman says she brings Doopie to work "because I like her."

"I could tell you it's because it relieves stress," she says, "or it's a good breaking-the-ice point for clients, but basically it's because I like her. I like having her around. I just like Doopie's company."

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@ Jeanne Sather 1991-2007.

Comments

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