Loss of a Pet Other Than Death
Loss of a pet other than death….
When a pet disappears - this can represent a far more complex grief due to circumstance
Loss of this kind should be listed as torturous. It could have been a simple, left in car case, or a dog tied up out the front of a shop, pet has strayed, or even worse a pet snatched. In this situation there can be many issues such as unresolved grief, guilt, blaming and anger and the sick to your stomach feeling all the time thinking of all the bad things that could have happened to your beloved pet. Talking to a professional at this time may help to understand and accept the situation.
If negligence played a part then you could be faced with how and why could I have ever let this happen. The unknowing whether your beloved pet was safe, warm, fed and properly looked after can play on your conscience like a never ending nightmare. Emotions can run riot with anger at “the thief”, anger at “oneself” and just pure anger in the frustration of never seeing or feeling your beloved pet around you again.
When a pet disappears this one of the hardest forms of grief to overcome, there is very few "happy ever afters" in these scenarios and just no answers to a million “what if’s” and no final resolution.
Loss due to Divorce -
Sometimes after all the grief of the "breakup" comes even more stress and trauma by who will get the pet/s. Usually someone looses the pet unless the breakup was amicable. Pets can be used as a weapon against one party and sometimes the ending is not a good one. Bad breakups where there is a lot of bitterness involved can then be a revenge act and often in domestic cases such as this the best way to hurt a person is through the thing that they love most, a pet. There has been many cases in domestic violence cases where the pet has suffered or been killed as a vengeful act in order to gain control over the other person or situation.
When a pet is removed –
This can be from a multitude of reasons. The pet may be mistreated, the pet may have attacked someone and are removed, the owner may be disabled, going into a home and can no longer manage their pet. Whatever the reason ultimately the pet owner grieves for their loss. Pets that have been removed leaving their owners in a bereft state and we must respect that the love they show can often be in a way that is alien to us but we must respect it. Regardless of whether the owner in some way mistreated their pet or pets they too would be suffering loss in their own way and we must also be mindful and compassionate about that, as true pet owners and lovers.
Elderly people that can no longer manage their pet or are moving into a nursing home or some sort of care facility home is tragic and grief can be compounded by many other aspects of such a dramatic life change. The loneliness, loss and separation anxiety can be devastating, especially when facing ones own mortality and that of others around them.
Pets free to a good home- Due to lifes circumstances sometimes people just have to say goodbye to their beloved pets. They may be having financial difficulty or a myriad of issues that make it necessary to put in that ad “free to a good home”. There are no guarantees on this being a happy ever after scenario with plenty of unscrupulous operators exploiting this for profit through experimental laboratories.
Grief takes many prisoners....
Loss of this kind should be listed as torturous. It could have been a simple, left in car case, or a dog tied up out the front of a shop, pet has strayed, or even worse a pet snatched. In this situation there can be many issues such as unresolved grief, guilt, blaming and anger and the sick to your stomach feeling all the time thinking of all the bad things that could have happened to your beloved pet. Talking to a professional at this time may help to understand and accept the situation.
If negligence played a part then you could be faced with how and why could I have ever let this happen. The unknowing whether your beloved pet was safe, warm, fed and properly looked after can play on your conscience like a never ending nightmare. Emotions can run riot with anger at “the thief”, anger at “oneself” and just pure anger in the frustration of never seeing or feeling your beloved pet around you again.
When a pet disappears this one of the hardest forms of grief to overcome, there is very few "happy ever afters" in these scenarios and just no answers to a million “what if’s” and no final resolution.
Loss due to Divorce -
Sometimes after all the grief of the "breakup" comes even more stress and trauma by who will get the pet/s. Usually someone looses the pet unless the breakup was amicable. Pets can be used as a weapon against one party and sometimes the ending is not a good one. Bad breakups where there is a lot of bitterness involved can then be a revenge act and often in domestic cases such as this the best way to hurt a person is through the thing that they love most, a pet. There has been many cases in domestic violence cases where the pet has suffered or been killed as a vengeful act in order to gain control over the other person or situation.
When a pet is removed –
This can be from a multitude of reasons. The pet may be mistreated, the pet may have attacked someone and are removed, the owner may be disabled, going into a home and can no longer manage their pet. Whatever the reason ultimately the pet owner grieves for their loss. Pets that have been removed leaving their owners in a bereft state and we must respect that the love they show can often be in a way that is alien to us but we must respect it. Regardless of whether the owner in some way mistreated their pet or pets they too would be suffering loss in their own way and we must also be mindful and compassionate about that, as true pet owners and lovers.
Elderly people that can no longer manage their pet or are moving into a nursing home or some sort of care facility home is tragic and grief can be compounded by many other aspects of such a dramatic life change. The loneliness, loss and separation anxiety can be devastating, especially when facing ones own mortality and that of others around them.
Pets free to a good home- Due to lifes circumstances sometimes people just have to say goodbye to their beloved pets. They may be having financial difficulty or a myriad of issues that make it necessary to put in that ad “free to a good home”. There are no guarantees on this being a happy ever after scenario with plenty of unscrupulous operators exploiting this for profit through experimental laboratories.
Grief takes many prisoners....