The loss of a pet causes genuine grief that is often underestimated by social networks. Understanding pet bereavement helps grieving owners and supports healthier human-animal relationships.
Pet bereavement welfare matters for animals because the quality of human-animal relationships it reflects is foundational to companion animal welfare. The depth of grief after pet loss reflects the depth of the bond that provided daily welfare for the animal throughout its life. Supporting healthy grieving allows people to maintain the capacity to form future animal relationships. Disenfranchised grief - where social norms minimize or dismiss pet loss - can discourage people from the deep animal relationships that most benefit pet welfare. Validating pet grief is therefore not only compassionate to grieving humans but supportive of the human-animal bond quality that benefits animals.