Bereavement and Companion Animals

Loss of a companion animal accompanied by intense grief and mourning is seldom recognized as an important and authentic occasion for bereavement. While pet ownership is praised and its virtues celebrated, corresponding grief is often trivialized and not recognized as truly significant. The author established a bereavement counseling program at a humane society and reports findings that confirm parallels between human and animal bonding and bereavements. The act of consenting to euthanasia was particularly disturbing, as if the owner had betrayed a trust by opting for death over life. Most of the bereaved owners reported depths of feeling that were unique and in most cases beyond those experienced in other deaths.