ABSTRACT
Sometimes, the loss of a pet may trigger unusually intense responses in bereaved pet parents. Normal grief responses, when carried to the extreme, may manifest in maladaptive coping mechanisms and require timely effective crisis intervention in order to prevent the client's progression into self-destructive behavior. Recent U.S. disasters (9/11 and Gulf Coast floods) exposed the need for first responders to be educated about pet loss issues when debriefing victims. The sudden, and sometimes horrific manner in which pets become separated from people during disasters can cause significant trauma to individuals and families who are already struggling with the challenges of day-to-day survival. When the human-companion animal bond is broken, whether the loss is anticipated (as with lingering terminal illness), or sudden (as with accidents or disasters), people may be so traumatized that they are at risk for developing symptoms of serious mental illness. This may also be true for first responders assisting animals in a disaster. When talking with an animal rescue volunteer who worked tirelessly, two weeks after the levees broke, to save the lives of pets abandoned in homes in New Orleans, La., she said that many of the volunteers would run screaming and crying from houses. The scenes they had witnessed, of the last few hours of an animals life, were more than they could stand. Many volunteers went on to develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
