Saying Good-Bye to the Pet You Love

When a pet dies, the vast majority of owners experience significant grief, which is often downplayed by friends, family, and even helping professionals. In this new book readers will find validation for their grief, come to understand their human-animal bond, and master solid tools to help them through the grieving process. Co-founder of San Diego County's Pet Bereavement Program, author Dr. Lorri Greene has been specializing in pet bereavement issues for over 20 years. In this sympathetic new book she teaches that pet bereavement is normal and similar in scope to the loss of an important person. Readers evaluate their level of pet attachment and the intensity of their grief experience using Greene's Pet Attachment Worksheet (PAW). They then work through their grief with specific bereavement techniques, including memorializing the pet, recognizing problematic thinking, and finding support. Coping skills are provided for any remaining guilt over medical measures taken or not, and euthanizing a pet. Readers who accidentally killed or witnessed the death of their pets learn about post-traumatic stress symptoms, and are offered self-help resources. Additional chapters include easing a child through pet grief, finding support, and pet loss for the elderly and the owners of working animals.

Lorri A. Greene, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who for more than twenty years has been helping people grieve the loss of their pets. In 1986, Dr. Greene cofounded the San Diego County Pet Bereavement Program, one of the only such programs in the U.S., which offers continuous support for those who have lost companion animals. A pet loss support group facilitator who speaks widely on this topic, Dr. Greene maintains a private practice in San Diego, California. Jacquelyn Landis is a freelance writer living in the San Diego area. Alan M. Beck, Sc.D., is one of the nation's leading experts on the human-animal bond. He co-authored Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship. Dr. Beck is professor of animal ecology and director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond, School of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University.