Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
Scheduled video chat rooms and resources dedicated entirely to pet loss.
Grief Support Pet Loss
Pet Loss Support Groups
Losing an animal companion is real grief — the daily rhythms, the greeting at the door, a relationship of fifteen years — and it comes with a cruel extra: much of the world treats it as minor. Grief researchers call it disenfranchised grief; anyone who has lived it just calls it lonely.
The resources below take it seriously. Two veterinary schools staff free phone hotlines. The APLB runs scheduled video chat rooms every week. Veterinary hospice providers host free groups. Nobody in any of these rooms will ever say 'it was just a dog.'
Verified Networks
Where the real support is
Every organization here is national, established, and built around this specific loss. Formats and costs are listed so you know before you click.
Lap of Love Pet Loss Support
Veterinary hospice provider running free pet-loss support groups and one-on-one sessions.
Cummings School Pet Loss Support Hotline (Tufts)
Veterinary-school hotline staffed by trained volunteers.
Cornell Pet Loss Support Hotline
Veterinary-student-staffed hotline for grieving pet owners.
Local & Verified
Dedicated local centers for this loss
Standout local organizations we’ve verified — each city guide has more, including every hospice grief program in that metro.
Hospice of the Valley Grief Support
Free drop-in grief groups across the Phoenix area — in person and virtual, including Spanish-language, LGBTQ, and pet loss groups. Open to anyone.
Seattle Animal Shelter Pet Loss Support Group
City-run pet loss support group — one of the few municipal ones in the country.
Care Dimensions
Grief groups, workshops, and counseling from Massachusetts' nonprofit hospice — children's programs plus suicide-, substance-, and pet-loss groups.
The Listening Place
Walk-in Wednesday-evening listening sessions with trained grief volunteers in Webster Groves, plus a monthly grief group — no appointment needed.
Before Your First Meeting
What these groups are actually like
Pet loss groups are usually online or by phone, drop-in, and free — lower commitment than most grief support, which fits a grief the world doesn't grant leave for. Expect people mourning dogs and cats but also horses, birds, and twenty-year-old tortoises; expect guilt about euthanasia decisions to come up in nearly every session, because it's nearly universal.
If your grief feels bigger than the group — sleeplessness, dread, weeks of not coping — pet-loss-specific counselors exist, and the hotlines can point you to one.
Finding one near you: beyond the networks above, your local hospice is required to offer bereavement support and most run free community grief groups — call and ask for the bereavement coordinator. More on that here.
Want this list in your inbox?
One email with every network on this page, plus a short guide to choosing a group. No newsletter, no follow-ups — just the list, to read when you’re ready.
Questions
What families ask
Why do I feel worse than when a person I knew died?
It's common, and it doesn't make you broken. Your pet was woven into every hour of your day, loved you without complication, and may have been your companion through your hardest years. Attachment, not species, sets the size of grief.
I had to choose euthanasia and I can't stop replaying it.
This is the single most common topic in pet loss support. Choosing a gentle death for an animal who couldn't choose is an act of love that feels like betrayal — a group of people who've made the same call can hold that contradiction better than anyone else.
Are pet loss hotlines really free?
Yes. The Tufts and Cornell veterinary school hotlines are staffed by trained volunteers and free to call. Hours vary by school term — check the sites for current schedules.
While You’re Here
Free tools, if they’d help
Made for the same reason this directory exists. No account, no charge.
Other Losses
Loss of a Spouse or PartnerLoss of a ChildPregnancy & Infant LossSuicide LossMilitary & Veteran LossChildren & TeensLoss of a Parent
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Fifteen years of devotion, made permanent
Some people honor an animal companion the way they'd honor anyone they loved that long — as an original painting, built from what made them them.