UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital helps clients deal with stress and grief

WUGA | By Allison Salerno

Published August 21, 2023 at 12:02 PM EDT

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"We went to New Mexico, we've gone to the beach. We've gone to the mountains. I mean, he was just everywhere I was. He was basically with me. “
Mary Roach, a retired teacher from Conyers, isn't talking about her partner or her best friend. She’s talking about her dog, Jaxon, a chocolate lab who died on February 1st after a months-long battle with cancer.

In Georgia, more than half of us have a pet in our home. And most of us consider that animal a member of the family. At the University of Georgia’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, a veterinary social worker helps clients deal with the stress of having a sick pet and the grief of having one die. Graduate students from the UGA School of Social Work are interning there and learning about the human-animal bond.