Dozens of people from San Francisco software company Benchling Inc. were logged into a video call featuring a special guest when the meeting quickly went off-script.
Benchling had paid Sweet Farm, a 20-acre animal sanctuary, to spice up the virtual gathering with a video feed of animals including Paco, a 5-foot 9-inch rescue llama. When sanctuary co-founder Nate Salpeter stood up too fast, a startled Paco retaliated by spraying him in the face with a mouthful of spit.
“It took everyone off guard, especially Nate,” said Yujia Zhao, an account executive at Benchling. The call erupted in laughter.
“They have quite a range on their spit,” Mr. Salpeter said. “It smelled largely of hay.”
Repetitive virtual meetings over the past year have sapped morale in many workplaces. So companies are hiring four-legged guests—sheep, goats, tortoises, llamas, bearded dragons and more—to paint smiles back on the faces of jaded employees. Hosting animal video calls has become a lucrative revenue stream for many farms, sanctuaries or petting zoos.
