The death of a pet hits just as hard as that of a loved one

FOR many owners, a pet is not “just a pet”, and if people understood how strong the bond could be with a beloved animal, maybe it would be more accepted to take time to grieve the loss. 

I WAS driving home from work last month, when I received a phone call from my husband that changed everything.

He told me to pull over and my heart began to beat furiously — I knew at that point something was wrong.

He paused and said in a quiet voice that his nine-year-old black german shepherd, Gara, had died of old age.

Her health had been deteriorating since August, but we didn’t expect to lose her so suddenly.

In that moment, I was in complete shock and my eyes began to well up with tears.

When I got home, I held my husband.

He was distraught as she had been a constant in his life and lived between our house and his parents.

She was the glue that held our families together and now she was gone.

We felt as if we were mourning the death of a loved one or friend because Gara provided total companionship and that’s why we were grieving so intensely.

When I told people about her death, my pet-owning friends understood and passed on kind thoughts and words of condolences.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” a close friend said.

Another friend said she understood the pain and still cried over the loss of her labrador Geoffrey.

She said it was just as painful, if not worse, than the death of her mother three years ago.

Those who have never owned a pet, thought we had overreacted to the death, because at the end of the day; “it’s just a dog”.

For many of us, a dog (or any other pet) is not “just a dog”, but rather a beloved member of the family.

If people understood how strong the bond could be with a pet, then perhaps it would be more accepted to take time to grieve the loss.

Time, we expect, will help us heal through this, but as many bereaved pet owners know it’s easy for the memories to come flooding back.

On the day Gara died, my father-in-law called her name waiting for her to pounce out of her kennel at the sound of biscuits.

There was complete silence and he found her laying there at peace with her favourite orange tennis ball by her side.

The vet gave our family our final minutes alone with her.

As my husband leant over to give her one last cuddle, tears rolled down his cheeks and splashed on to her wet nose.

“Goodbye old friend,” he said.