Losing your pet can be as painful as losing a human being: it is the result of a survey conducted by the Wamiz site, with some 10,000 European owners of dogs and cats.

Can the loss of an animal be as painful as that of a human being? For 88% of French pet owners, the answer is yes. The Wamiz site has surveyed 10,000 dog and cat owners across Europe - the largest survey of its kind ever conducted - and all agree on the importance of "animal grief".

Witness Laurence, who, when she lost her dog, had the impression of losing "a piece of herself". To overcome an unexpected pain, she did as 90% of Europeans surveyed: she kept memories. "In a room called by name, there is the urn, and there are pictures of Bolson, and there are small things in his memory, we are devastated and it's really like losing someone from the family. "

Losing an animal is not taken seriously

According to the survey, two-thirds of the animals are incinerated and the rest are buried. Most often, homeowners choose the funeral that best grieves their grief. Yet, according to this study, many would not dare to confide. Laetitia Barlerin, veterinarian, speaks of a "double punishment" because losing an animal is not taken seriously. "First of all, it's worth losing your animal, but there's also the fact that when you show you're sad because your animal is gone, the people around you do not understand. to hide his pain, and it's hard to cope with this loss, which makes it even more difficult for people who have just lost their animal ".

Faced with this misunderstanding, pet owners go further. According to this survey, they would be a large majority to accept days off in business to recover.