You will probably hear a fair amount of PR chatter over the next week about “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” an event put on by Pet Sitters International (this year on June 20). Its observance raises a pretty basic question: Is it ever a good idea to bring pets into the workplace?

I’m in a unique position to answer that question because A) I used to work at a company that had a pet-friendly policy; and, B) because that company, Pets.com, used to own “Take Your Dog to Work Day.”

I was a vice president at San Francisco-based Pets.com from 1999 to 2001. The company bought “Take Your Dog to Work Day” from Pet Sitters International and used it to help market our company for a couple of years, until we folded after the tech bubble burst in late 2000. Pet Sitters International bought the event back again after that.

Here’s the bottom line: “Take Your Dog to Work Day” is a marketing ploy, albeit for a good cause. Pet Sitters International says that the day is “dedicated to celebrating the great companions dogs make and encouraging individuals to adopt dogs from local shelters and rescues.” They note that “the issue of adoption is especially important this year because of ‘foreclosure dogs,’ abandoned as the housing crisis has forced families from their homes. Animal shelters in Los Angeles, one of country’s hard-hit foreclosure regions, saw a spike of 16 percent overall in pet drop-offs and the number of animals euthanized shot up 31 percent in the first four months of 2008.”

All of this is true, and Pet Sitters International does a good job focusing awareness on the issue. But frankly, few workplaces are ready and able to deal with dogs in the office even for one day a year. There are two big reasons why:
1. There are numerous HR issues and concerns. You just can’t drop dogs into the workplace without some serious planning and advance discussion. “Take Your Dog to Work Day” is a minefield of problems. For example, what about people with dog or pet allergies? What if a dog bites someone? What if dogs get in a fight? And what happens when dogs do what dogs do?

2. There won’t be a lot of work getting done on the day you have dogs in the office. Having animals around is a huge distraction and gets in the way of why you go into the office—to get work done. If productivity is important in your office, you can kiss it goodbye on “Take Your Dog to Work Day.”

We had a pet-friendly policy at Pets.com, and that meant we had dogs (and cats, fish, birds, ferrets and other creatures) around all the time, every day. It worked for us because we had corporate policies in place to deal with the many HR issues. But more important, it worked because it was part of our corporate DNA. We touted the fact we had pets around the office—yes, it was one of our many marketing ploys—and people who worked there just got used to it.

Pet Sitters International makes note of this on their Web site, citing a 2006 study by the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association, which found that there are some workplace benefits to employees for companies that allow pets around all the time. I’m sure those benefits are real, but those companies have pets around every day, not just once a year.

Even as dedicated as we were to animals, we had our pet issues at Pets.com. One VP’s golden retriever crapped every day, like clockwork, in front of the CEO’s cube. There was the occasional dogfight, and the odd ferret scuffle. We got used to that, too, because it was part of who we were as a company.

So while I applaud pet adoptions and all that Pet Sitters International intends to achieve with this doggy day out, I don’t think it’s worth the management issues it raises. Do you really want to disrupt your environment this way for one day a year? My advice is to embrace the spirit of “Take Your Dog to Work Day” by passing the hat around the office so you can cut Pet Sitters International a nice check for the rescue of some foreclosure dogs. You’ll still be doing a good thing—just without all the HR issues and dog crap in the halls.