Grief Support Resources

We would like you to know about some pet loss grief support resources that will provide you with a lot of information quickly.

The first of these is the Pet-loss.net site, http://www.pet-loss.net/, Moira Anderson Allen's site, which offers a wealth of information, with her page on the emotions of pet loss, http://www.pet-loss.net/emotions.html, especially helpful for understanding what you're experiencing now.

And because almost everyone here is offering support to others as well as receiving support - and because some people visit these sites to find information to help them comfort a friend who's grieving - we recommend this page of practical advice on "How to Effectively Support Someone Grieving the Loss of Their Animal": http://animalsinourhearts.com/support/practcl1.htm.



Registration / Board Guidelines

We hope you'll join our Lighthouse Beacon community! Registration is required to post messages, send personal messages to members via the board Inbox, and view all our forums (Prayer Requests and the Lounge, the more personal community forums, are not visible to guests, and we have a members-only chat room in addition to the one that's for guests as well as members).

After you register, a validation email will be sent automatically to your email address and should reach you within minutes. (Only one account is allowed per email address, so if more than one member of your household wishes to register, you'll need to use additional addresses.) Clicking on the link in that email will validate your registration, and you will then be able to log in and post messages. You'll be in our Newest Members group until you've posted several messages (and those have been released by our moderators), after which you'll be promoted to the Beacon Members group. Then you'll be able to use the PM or board Inbox system to send private messages, as well as send email through the board to other members, and you'll be able to access the Lounge and Prayer Requests forum and the members-only chat room.

All messages on this board are moderated and screened. They all have to be read by a moderator or administrator before being released so members and guests can read them. But we have a large enough staff that usually it will be only minutes before your message is released, so you can get help quickly.

We have some general guidelines we'd like you to please follow:

1) Remember that this is a public forum whose messages may be indexed and cached by search engines, so please do not post such personal information as street addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or even your full name on the board. Such information can always be given to trusted people through personal messages.

2) This is a support board for people who are already hurting, so please be as considerate of others as you would like them to be of you.

3) Please don't call anyone names, post personal attacks, or use profanity.

4) Please don't post allegations of wrongdoing against specific NAMED individuals (including vets) and organizations that you feel may have harmed you or your pet. (Such specific allegations are better taken to lawyers or professional review boards.) It's okay to say that you felt there was wrongdoing and explain why, but please do not post names.

5) Please be patient if your message is not released within minutes. We will be releasing all new posts as quickly as possible, but depending on traffic, how many staff members are here, and other administrative work, there might occasionally be slight delays. If for any reason a post of yours will not be released, you will receive an email or personal message explaining why.

6) See the About using this board topic for more information.

We hope you'll find our board helpful and comforting. We'll do all we can to help you heal.