・About us
Tokyo-Based “Pet Lovers Meeting”(PLM) was established in 2000. This is the first self-help group in Japan for the people who have experienced pet loss and grief. (We are using the word “pet”, in the same meaning as a companion animal. )
・Circumstances about pet loss in Japan
Now, 8,489,000 dogs and 9,644,000 cats are kept in Japanese households. (2020 Research by Japan Pet Food Association https://petfood.or.jp/data/chart2020/3.pdf)
That is, about 40 percent of households keep some kind of companion animals. But grieving for a pet is still a “Disenfranchised Grief” a feeling that is not shared with average people. Even when your pet dies, you can’t take a day off to mourn. Or you can’t cry in the presence of others. Because people who don’t keeps pets feel it as inappropriate behavior.
However, the social circumstances about pet loss have been changing little by little in Japan. 20years ago, very few Japanese knew the word “pet loss grief”
Recently, a lot of books on pet loss and grief have been published. And more and more people have an opportunity to get the correct knowledge about it.