With this thought firmly in mind, Pets Magazine partnered with 3D pet sculptures creator Arty Lobster, who have a big market for pet memorials, to launch national Pet Remembrance Day in the UK. However, when a living creature with the capacity for love brings so much joy into our lives, isn’t it a crime – that only the most hard-hearted would ascribe to – that we should not also remember and celebrate their lives? But, there is still a feeling that our pets’ lives should not be celebrated and that once they have been laid to rest they should gradually be forgotten. Thankfully, most bereaved pet owners can now expect to have a level of sympathy and support when a companion animal dies that may even include time off work. These very real feelings are compounded by the now thankfully outmoded viewpoint that we should somehow ‘hide’ our emotions. This, in part, explains the real emotional pain felt by us on the loss of a beloved companion animal. This is why owning them has been shown to lower our blood pressure and help get our stress levels under control. We also experience the same rush of this feel good hormone when we see or stroke our pets. When they see their beloved person, scientists have proven that the ‘cuddle’ chemical oxytocin is produced in their brains. Dogs, like us, are known to develop the kind of attachment that can be described as love. Our pets intrinsically live much shorter lives than us, however the bonds of love and devotion that develop between a person and a pet companion should not be underestimated.
Close, particularly familial and blood-bound, human bonds usually also surpass those created between a person and a pet. We know from the start that our pets’ lives are transient. Naturally, the death of a parent for example will sting more and be endured more than perhaps the death of a pet. Employers, friends, and even other family members, may react as if the death means little and that the individual should just ‘pull themselves together’. They may even demonstrate prejudice or ridicule. Not only is the bereavement real and very raw – that overwhelming sense of loss felt by anyone who has truly loved a pet – but other people may fail to understand the loss. But, unlike the death of a human family member, the death of a precious pet can leave a caring and devoted animal lover in emotional turmoil for other reasons, aside from the very real sense of grief experienced. The death of a beloved companion animal can leave a massive hole in a family’s life. In the run up to national Pet Remembrance Day on Tuesday July 5, MARIE CARTER, Editor of Pets Magazine, writes on why there was a real need for such a day on which to celebrate the lives of our precious departed pets.
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