Some believe that the mourning process should be limited to only humans. However, when Roy Hattersley, the writer, broadcaster and former Labour deputy leader Lord Hattersley wrote this week in a newspaper about his grief for Buster his canine companion of 15 years, who died late last year. From the eye brows that were raised, it seems that there is a bit if a stigma in admitting to the deep emotional bond that mans shares with his pet.
“I sat in the first floor room in which I work, watching my neighbours go about their lives, amazed and furious that they were behaving as if it was a normal day,” wrote Hattersley. “Stop all the clocks. Buster was dead.”
Margot Clarke, manager of the Pet Bereavement Support Service says, ‘For anybody who has had a pet in their life they form a unique and very special member of the family, and remain so. In terms of that very special bond that individuals share it’s like any bond, once it’s broken, individuals feel that loss. That is expressed as grief.’
It was noted that many people that contacted the Pet Bereavement Support Service, that there was a great disappointment by the reaction of those around them to their loss.
This grief is seen to be compounded by the fact that there are beliefs systems set up for the loss of a human being like the idea of meeting your loved ones in heaven. However, the loss of pet is a less talked about concept which people sometimes feel uncomfortable opening up about.
Rev Prof Andrew Linzey and Anglican priest and director of Oxford Centre of Animal Ethics feels that the church has been slow to acknowledge the human-animal bond. However, he readdressed this issue when his pet dog Barney died and he wrote the book, animal rites.
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