ABSTRACT
Young children are literal thinkers and may react to an explanation of pet death as “put to sleep” with fears that they too may never wake up when put to bed. Within the Human–Animal Interaction literature, there is ample evidence that children develop close, affectionate bonds with pets and derive emotional and social support from these relationships, especially in times of stress. Another body of literature addresses children’s developing understanding and experience with loss, separation, and death. In addition, children, indeed all humans, are influenced by their expectations of the future. A child development perspective further recognizes predictable maturational changes as children move from infancy through early childhood into middle childhood and then adolescence. The child–pet relationship emerges as even more important when considered against the background of demographic changes in family composition. Much of the psychological literature on children’s understanding of and emotional response to death can be applied to the experience of pet death.
