40 THE QUEENS COURIER • COPING WITH DEATH • AUGUST 31, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
coping with death
When a beloved pet dies
Th e loss of a beloved pet can be a traumatic
experience for a child, a lonely senior
citizen or anyone who has cherished an
animal companion.
In many homes, a pet provides aff ection,
friendship and loyalty. Th us, in time,
the companion animal truly becomes an
important member of the family.
Grief, which results from the death or
loss of a pet, involves a diffi cult set of emotions
and problems which may take time to
work through.
It wasn’t too long ago that people did
not believe that it was okay to grieve for
an animal.
Now psychologists and grief counselors
recognize that sorrow for a pet is a very real
emotion akin to grieving for a lost friend
or relative.
A family veterinarian, who has helped to
care for a pet, understands the emotional
bond with a pet.
Mourning the loss of a pet is normal
and should not be a cause for embarrassment.
Pet owners experience the same stages
of loss that everyone undergoes aft er the
loss of a beloved family member or friend,
including denial, bargaining, anger, grief,
and resolution.
In some cases, the anxiety and sorrow
over the loss of a beloved pet may be greater
than that experienced at the death of a
friend or relative and the pet owner need
not feel guilty about it.
Guilt can arise when one has to determine
if it is time to end the life of an animal
that is in pain or distress, and has no
hope of recovery even with the best of veterinary
care.
Th e veterinarian and the pet’s family,
including children, should understand and
decide together to do what is most merciful
for the pet and the family.
When a pet dies, burial or cremation are
choices for disposal of the pet’s body.
Th e place of burial can vary from a backyard
to a pet cemetery, depending on the
size of the pet and the laws or ordinances
of the family’s community.
When a pet’s body is cremated, the family
may ask the veterinarian to dispose of the
ashes, or they may take them to scatter in a
favorite place, or keep in an urn at the pet
owner’s home or pet cemetery.
Your local veterinarian may be able to
help arrange a funeral service complete
with casket, fl owers and memorialization.
Such a service can be an enormous comfort
to the persons who loved the pet by
helping them demonstrate their aff ection
for the pet and accept the fi nality of their
loss -- a necessary step in the recovery
from grief.
Th ere are many ways to memorialize a
beloved pet -- placing fl owers on its grave,
installing a permanent marker or planting
a tree.
A good thing to do is to make a contribution
of time or money to a local animal
shelter, or to one of the many organizations
that are trying to save the world’s animals.
A local veterinarian or funeral director
can provide advice in helping say goodbye
when a beloved pet dies.
Courtesy of NYS Funeral Directors
Association