About the Pet Bereavement Support Service

Losing a pet of any kind is often a painful experience and the Pet Bereavement Support Service, run in partnership with The Blue Cross, continues to help thousands of pet owners of all ages. To maintain its high standards the Pet Bereavement Support Service is a member of The Helplines Association and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

The confidential telephone and email support line experienced a busy year in 2010; the service received over 6,000 calls and hundreds of emails.

Have you thought of volunteering?

I have experienced the loss of pets myself and I have time to give so it’s good to know that through being a volunteer I may have helped someone through a really difficult time and, hopefully, made a difference.

Penny Harley, support line volunteer

We could not offer this service without a team of dedicated home-based volunteers, who respond to members of the public on the support line.

To meet this demand, the service recruits and trains volunteers through a 16-week course, which is run twice each year.

This enables us to continue to offer emotional support and practical information for pet owners, and others in contact with pet owners. Further information on becoming a support line volunteer can be found on our volunteering page.