[News Terms] 'Pet Loss Syndrome' Like Losing Friends or Children

'Pet Loss Syndrome' refers to the feelings of loss or depressive symptoms experienced after a pet dies due to an accident, old age, or other causes.

It is more likely to occur when there is a reason to feel guilt over the pet's death, such as when the pet died due to the owner's negligence, when the owner decided to end the pet's life through euthanasia, or when the pet must be given up due to various circumstances.

According to the '2022 National Animal Protection Awareness Survey' conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in September last year on 5,000 people aged 20 to 64 nationwide, the proportion of households raising pets was 25.4%. It was estimated that the number of dogs and cats, which make up the majority of pets, approaches about 8 million.

A family outing with their pet. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

In Korea, a pet-raising boom began in the 2000s, and assuming that people started raising dogs and cats in the early 2000s, considering the average lifespan of dogs and cats is about 15 to 17 years, many would have reached the end of their lives by the mid-2010s. Therefore, Pet Loss Syndrome has been spreading since the mid-2010s.

Serge Ciccotti analyzed in his book Psychology of Human-Dog-Cat Relationships that "when a pet dies, men feel pain similar to losing a close friend, while women feel pain similar to losing a child." This means that parting with a pet can be equated with parting from a friend or child. If the grief from losing a pet persists for 3 to 6 months and interferes with daily life, professional treatment is necessary.

To overcome Pet Loss Syndrome, the best treatment is to share memories of the pet and grief with people around you. Those around should also offer comfort and respect to those showing signs of Pet Loss Syndrome. Additionally, when adopting a pet, one should recognize the fact that the pet may die before the owner, and after the death of a pet, hastily adopting a new pet is also considered one way for families to overcome Pet Loss Syndrome.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.