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Pastors, parishioners, and pets

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Abstract

Case examples of how three parishioners in one congregation dealt with pet loss are examined. Each person discusses reasons for owning a pet, relates personal reactions to the loss, explains who was and who would have been supportive during the grief process, and illustrates why such support was needed. Suggestions for how a local minister might provide outreach to parishioners dealing with grief over a pet's death are presented.

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References

  1. Aaron Honori Katcher and Alan M. Beck, (Eds),New Perspectives on Our Lives with Companion Animals (Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), p. 363.

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  2. Kenneth M. G. Keddie, “Pathological Mourning After the Death of a Domestic Pet,”British Journal of Psychiatry 131, 1977, p. 21.

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  3. Rynearson's study (cited in Katcher and Beck, 1983).

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  5. Mary Stewart, “Loss of a Pet—Loss of a Person: A Comparative Study of Bereavement,” in Katcher and Beck, (Eds),New Perspectives on Our Lives with Companion Animals (Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), pp. 403–404.

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  6. Stewart, p. 398.

  7. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross,On Death and Dying (New York, NY, The Macmillan Company, 1969), p. 83.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Arizona State University, 85287, Tempe, AZ

    F. Ellen Netting Ph.D. (ACSW)

  2. Scottsdale Memorial Hospital North, Scottsdale, Arizona

    Karl A. Netting (Chaplain, M.Div.)

  3. Department of Health, Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

    Cindy C. Wilson Ph.D.

  4. College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

    John C. New D.V.M.

Authors
  1. F. Ellen Netting Ph.D.
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  2. Karl A. Netting
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  3. Cindy C. Wilson Ph.D.
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  4. John C. New D.V.M.
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Additional information

The authors wish to acknowledge both the Levi Strauss Foundation and AETNA Insurance for funding a community-based pet placement program for the elderly. This program brought the authors into a collaborative relationship, a by-product of which is the submitted manuscript. We particularly want to express our appreciation to the three parishioners who shared their innermost feelings with us.

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Netting, F.E., Netting, K.A., Wilson, C.C. et al. Pastors, parishioners, and pets. Pastoral Psychol 33, 126–135 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01086372

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01086372

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