Pet Aftercare & Bereavement Services
How We Can Help
Pet Specific Grief Counseling
When dealing with the loss of your beloved pet, seek support from a trained professional pet bereavement counselor
Pet Keepsakes
Turn precious memories into meaningful memorials and keepsake items that honor the unbreakable bond you and your beloved pet shared
Pets are Family
Paws to Remember founder Maryglenn Warnock contributed a December 2020 article, “Disenfranchised Grief: Understanding the Unique Grief Pet Owners Face” to Memento Mori, the magazine of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association.
Based on my personal and professional experience, I believe in the healing power of holding such a service. While I understand that this type of event is not the right choice for everyone, I do think it can be healing for those of us who feel lost, isolated and alone after the death of a pet.
In my work as a pet bereavement counselor, I’ve heard countless grieving owners express concern that their intense feelings over the loss of a pet aren’t appropriate. Some have even wondered if they’ve lost their minds or if their feelings are abnormal or unjustified.
As I was studying to become a pet bereavement counselor, I came across a quotation that really stuck with me: Pets give us the best days of our lives—and one of the worst. Anyone who has ever deeply loved and lost a pet will likely agree. They day one loses a beloved companion is the worst. It is unspeakably terrible, painful, and sad.
June 9, 2020 will mark the annual World Pet Memorial Day, a day where we remember those beloved pets we’ve lost. In honor of the occasion, I thought this would be a good time to talk about ways we can honor and remember our pets after they depart this earthly life.
In my work as a pet bereavement counselor, I have heard countless grieving pet owners echo the same sentiment: worry that their intense feelings over the loss of a pet aren’t “normal” or that they’re wrong. Some have even expressed concerned that they’ve “lost their minds” or that their feelings are somehow abnormal or unjustified.