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The strength of the attachment of pet owners to their pets, the nature of the grief experienced when the human-animal bond is broken and the need for a pet loss counselling service has been studied in a New Zealand sample of 58 self-selected pet owners who experienced loss within the 6 months prior to the study and who felt that they were still grieving.

In this pilot study 33 pet owners took part in a structured interview and 25 responded to a postal questionnaire. The subjects were asked about their attachment to their pet, their experience of loss, the reaction of others, their reflections and demographic details.

A new quantitative attachment scale that compared the attachment to the pet to the attachment to significant
humans was trialled. The results generally found that the results of overseas studies applied to the New Zealand situation and confirmed that the grief reactions to pet loss are similar to those for human loss.

The new attachment scales found that 50-60% of the subjects were as attached to their pets as they were to humans or more so, and for the first time provided statistically significant evidence that dog owners may be more attached to their pets than cat owners.

Few differences were found between the responses of the interviewed respondents and the postal respondents. It was concluded that there is a need for a pet loss counselling service in Christchurch and that the study of the human animal bond may aid the further development of attachment theory. The implications of the study for social work are presented

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