{"id":9180,"date":"2024-04-29T22:31:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T14:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=9180"},"modified":"2024-04-29T22:31:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T14:31:21","slug":"emotional-turmoil-experienced-after-dog-theft-is-like-that-of-a-caregiver-losing-a-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/emotional-turmoil-experienced-after-dog-theft-is-like-that-of-a-caregiver-losing-a-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotional turmoil experienced after dog-theft is like that of a caregiver losing a child"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A study published in the journal\u00a0<\/strong>Animal-Human Interactions<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0reveals that emotional turmoil experienced by dog owners after their pet has been stolen is like that of losing a loved one such as a caregiver\u00a0losing their child.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings empirically support the notions that the \u2018owner\u2019 or guardian roles and relationships equate to familial relationships and, when faced with the theft of their pet, owners feel a similar sense of disenfranchised grief and ambiguous loss.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the study, some participants felt the loss was more intense than the death of a friend or relative owing to the closeness of the human-animal bond they had with their pet that in some cases, they did not have with some family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akaanksha Venkatramanan and Dr Lindsey Roberts suggest sadness\/sorrow, despair and hopelessness, and emotional pain and\/or numbness, coupled with anxiety was consistently reported in the study; the same emotional reactions evident at the death of human loved ones but that the emotions were distinct owing to the difference in how society views the death of people versus our beloved companion animals or \u2018pets.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychological distress experienced was often made worse by a lack of understanding of how much an animal companion can mean to someone, and that dog theft laws often only consider dogs as stolen property in the same way as having a material possession such as bicycle stolen, because of this the Police are limited in the support they can offer too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation can be made worse by the manner the dog was stolen too \u2013 either through physical force or entering someone\u2019s own home or property without consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers say that given the evidence of similar grief and coping markers to the loss of loved ones and children, dog owners are susceptible to developing challenges and delays processing their grief such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Post Grief Disorder, as there is a real risk of having no closure from the event, particularly if the dog is never returned home or found deceased.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The researchers said the study also demonstrates that dog owners cope just as they would when missing a human family member has gone missing or passed but propose social media as a way of continuing the search for their pet, adapting to the new situation by reaching out to those in a similar situation, retaining hope, and\/or attempting to cope with their grief and adjust to new circumstances without their dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychological research, the researchers say, should aim to inform best-practice resources providing suitable help managing grief, social disenfranchisement, and other psychological or physiological consequences of this trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Venkatramanan, an Assistant Psychologist, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said, \u201cThis study explored the experiences and needs of dog-guardians when faced with dog theft and the results validated an overlap of characteristics between human and non-human relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt provides evidence of the intense love of dogs and the parental accountability of guardians. A consequent overlap of emotional distress at the loss of this relationship is also shown, providing empirical evidence to formulate psychological and legal support to this, currently disenfranchised, grief experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the UK alone, there are 13 million dog owners. Having a pet has been found to improve physiological and psychological wellbeing \u2013 correlating to reduced cardiovascular mortality, depression, and stress levels. Dogs are a source of comfort to many, particularly for those who without them, would experience significant loneliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers highlight how having a dog buffered against the negative impact of loneliness experienced during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK as dogs give people a reason to leave the house for walks, exercise and spend time in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, the upshot of many more people raising dogs in this time resulted in a spike in breeding, a rise in the cost of puppies for sale and theft during the pandemic. While 3.2 million pets were bought during lockdown, there were also over 2,000 reports of dogs stolen \u2013 a rise in dog theft by 250% pre-Covid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given the evidence of similar grief and coping markers to the loss of loved ones and children, dog owners are susceptible to developing challenges and delays processing their grief such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Post Grief Disorder, as there is a real risk of having no closure from the event, particularly if the dog is never returned home or found deceased.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2432],"tags":[1410,1086,2238,1152],"class_list":["post-9180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets","tag-household-pets","tag-pet","tag-pet-adoption","tag-pet-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9182,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9180\/revisions\/9182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}