The death of a companion animal causes genuine grief that is often disenfranchised — dismissed by others as lesser than human loss — but deserves recognition and support.
Companion animal grief is a genuine welfare concern for humans whose animals have died, and indirectly affects animals whose owners delay euthanasia from fear of their own grief response. Normalizing pet grief, providing support resources, and treating owner grief as legitimate allows owners to make decisions centered on animal welfare rather than on managing their own unacknowledged loss.