World Animal Mourning Day
World Pet Bereavement Remembrance Day is the second Saturday in June
For thousands of people across Canada, pets play an important role in their lives. Whether for work or pleasure, we love them. When they die, they leave a void in our hearts and people experience this grief, sometimes, more intensely than human grief.
Animal grief is as important as human grief. The person will experience the same stages of grief, but they cannot talk about it because it is taboo. This creates a blockage in the work of mourning and there are physical and moral manifestations of keeping all of one's emotions inside. Also, the social impact of a person experiencing grief no longer needs to be proven.
It is essential to express one's emotions in order to be able to get out of the pain of grief. Indeed, recognizing, accepting and expressing one's emotions is one of the essential tasks of grieving. Not doing so risks never resolving it.
The place of ritual
Since the dawn of time, men have felt the need to give meaning to their psychological pain. Thus, from these ancestral needs were born the rituals of mourning. As far back as we can look in history, we find traces of rituals. These have a symbolic function of connecting us to the one we have lost. It allows us to fulfill the mission of integrating the absence of the being and life without him.
Public rituals
Public rituals serve to honor the deceased being and have essential psychological functions. They are intended for those who remain. It is therefore essential for the bereaved to give this final ceremony a precise dimension. This ritual allows them to see themselves in mourning and offers them a socially recognized framework for the natural expression of emotions.
A public ceremony would create a sense of belonging with the community. Thus, collective support would be woven across Canada. Even if the ceremony would only last one day, it would allow those grieving the loss of their pet to feel loved, supported, and would bring a glimmer of hope, of human warmth suggesting that we can get through this grief.
I believe that creating a National Pet Bereavement Day dedicated to our faithful pets would allow physical and moral well-being and bring inner peace to many people. This National Day would serve as a reference to remember all the progress made since the death of the beloved animal and would bring these people the individual and national strength to face the trials.
The greatness and value of a nation is judged by the way it treats its animals.
-Following our efforts, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Quebec supports the day of animal mourning.
You want to become one of our partners in this day, contact us
