Our pets’ lives are shorter than ours. The moment we get a new kitten or puppy, we are setting ourselves up for the sad day when we will have to say goodbye. Most people don’t think about it, some do, and some even refuse to have any pets for that reason. “You get attached to that dog or cat,” they say, “you live with them all those years, and then they die… And what are you supposed to do?” Those people don’t want to go through the loss, so they rob themselves of the joy of having a pet altogether. I think they are missing out, big time, but in a way, I can understand them: losing your little friend is very hard.

I remember talking to a co-worker who had to euthanize the family dog, a companion of over ten years, if I am not mistaken. The lady could barely go through the office routine, she was overpowered by grief; all she could think of was the dog’s death. She had come to me and shared about what happened, knowing that I was an animal lover myself and I would understand. “Please, don’t tell anyone else,” she had asked. “Some people just don’t get it, and I don’t need them to be making fun.”

She was right: some people “don’t get it,” they can’t understand the bond between a human and a dog or a cat, and therefore tend to look down on those who are devastated “just because of a pet.” I have heard all kinds of cruel things. “They don’t have a life, that’s why they are so crazy about that cat.” “They weep over that dog as if it were human.” “They don’t know what real suffering is, that’s why their cat’s death is the end of the world to them.” It is comments like this that make the pet owner, already hurting enough, feel guilty, silly, or immature, and hide their pain.