Pet Loss Support

"Stories untold fester. Stories unheard become illness and despair. Stories unspoken undo the mind and the soul. Stories told heal the heart. Stories witnessed create community. Stories heard become wisdom."

- Deena Metzger

GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP

When:

The 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month from 7-9 pm

Where:

2685 Chanticleer Avenue

Santa Cruz, CA

Tel: (831) 465-5000

Directions

The group is based on the belief that grief needs to be shared in order for healing to happen. We are a story-telling and listening group.

Isa Dempsey started the Santa Cruz SPCA's grief support group in 1988; it has been meeting continuously ever since.

Betsy Jones (facilitator) has a BA in psychology and has training in Crisis Intervention. She has lived with and lost many companion animals. She has been a longtime member of the group and, with her academic background and training, is a skilled facilitator.

Reading Materials:

Legacies of Love by Teresa Wagner
Coping with Sorrow on the Loss of Your Pet by Moira Anderson
Grieving the Death of a Pet By Dr. Betty Carmack
Losing A Best Friend Compiled by the San Francisco SPCA
Pet Loss: A Thoughtful Guide for Adults and Children By Herbert A. Nieburg and Arlene Fischer

Websites:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge...

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them; who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to break away from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

THEN YOU CROSS RAINBOW BRIDGE TOGETHER...