Looking After the People Who Look After the Animals: Supporting Grieving Pet Owners, While Looking After Yourself Too

Supporting veterinary teams as much as their clients, with practical tools for difficult conversations and for looking after their own wellbeing while doing this work.

Ann Harris spoke at The Vet Expo 2026 at ICC Sydney on 9 September, presenting a practical session focused on the emotional weight veterinary teams can carry when supporting grieving pet owners.

The session explored simple, practical ways to support clients through the loss of a pet they love, stay steady when grief presents as anger or blame, and look after your own wellbeing so you’re not carrying every difficult conversation home.

Created for vets, vet nurses, practice managers, reception teams and animal care professionals, the session focused on building confidence in difficult conversations while recognising that the people who care for animals need support too.

Looking after the people who look after the animals.

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Why this talk matters

☑️ Veterinary teams often stand beside pet owners during some of the hardest days of their lives

☑️ A client may be facing euthanasia or the shock of a diagnosis, or trying to leave the clinic after saying goodbye to a beloved pet

☑️ The right words, and a simple after-care pathway to offer, can change how a client remembers that day

☑️ This session offers practical communication tools and simple support options your clinic can use to help clients feel supported, and less alone

☑️ It also recognises something equally important: when clients are supported well after loss, veterinary teams are supported too

"Supporting grieving pet owners well also supports veterinary wellbeing."

Designed to support clients and your team

This talk is not about adding more work to your day.

It is about giving your team simple tools, clear language, and an after-care resource you can offer when a client needs support beyond the clinic.

Your clinic does not need to run a grief program.

You do not need to provide counselling.

You can simply offer a compassionate next step for clients who are grieving.

That means your team can feel more confident in difficult conversations, while knowing clients have somewhere to turn after they leave the clinic

The 6-Step Pet Loss Support Pathway

As part of this work, Ann has created a free pet loss support pathway that clinics can share with grieving clients.

This pathway is designed to support pet owners after loss, while also helping veterinary teams feel that they have offered meaningful care beyond the appointment.

The 6-Step Pet Loss Support Pathway, free for your clients and free for your clinic.

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About Ann Harris

Ann Harris is a Certified Grief Educator, trained under world-renowned grief expert David Kessler, and the author of PerPETual Love: Forever In Your Heart. With more than 35 years working alongside animals and the people who love them, she understands how deeply pet loss is felt, and the weight veterinary teams carry when they walk clients through it.

Her work is designed to complement the care your clinic already provides: practical, grounded, and always within scope.

See the CPD course →

Learn More about Ann

A Clear Scope

Ann Harris is a Certified Grief Educator, not a counsellor or psychologist.
PerPETual Love provides education and support, not counselling, therapy or clinical care.

💜 For Pet Owners