We have a resident pet here at the office, and frankly, he brightens my day when I pass by him. He’s actually very social, and puts on a show if you stop and say hi. His name is McCrea, and he’s a blue Beta fish, or Siamese fighting fish. So on my visit to McCrea this morning I wondered what other pets take up residence in other offices? We’re an office of pet lovers, and just thoughts of propriety keep us from having a menagerie (that, and motion sensors) here, but it’s NICE having a pet at the office. If only it were possible to bring in my dog, or my cat…but that doesn’t stop me from thinking about maybe a hermit crab. Or a guppy. Although I did settle for a mouse pad…

I used to work for a well-known big box retailer, and we had an “office” cat. She mostly hung out up at the service desk, and for the Saturday morning kids build, we even made her a little apron, which she graciously consented to wear. Her name was Victoria (don’t ask) and she just showed up one day outside of the loading docks, hungry and pitiful looking. We took her in, gave her a place to stay at the phone center, and everyone at the store chipped in cash for her vet visits and food, and on Sunday nights, the only day the store wasn’t staffed 24 hours and the alarms went on, someone would volunteer to take her home for the night. She was well loved, and learned a lot about installing a ceiling fan.

If you happen to work in a pet-loving office, and no one has major allergies to critters (this includes mind-numbing phobias, which means no spiders!)  see if you can at least bring in your own darling dog-cat-hamster-spiny jungle squirrel and have a little fun for the day!