There was a time when grieving a pet was something people quietly got on with, often without much acknowledgement from anyone around them. That's changed. The UK now has charity helplines built specifically for pet loss, a genuine and growing pet funeral industry, and research showing the grief people feel for an animal is its own real thing — not a lesser version of grief for a person. Below is the sourced picture of how the UK grieves its pets, and why memorialising them has become such a normal part of that process.
Is there dedicated support in the UK for people grieving a pet?
Yes, and it's been running for three decades. Blue Cross's Pet Loss Support service was founded in 1994 and is staffed by 227 volunteers across the UK. In 2023 it handled 20,381 separate contacts — 10,226 phone calls and 5,051 webchats, alongside emails. It was renamed from "Pet Bereavement Support" to "Pet Loss Support" in 2023 and marked its 30th anniversary in 2024. Over 20,000 people needing support in a single year is a clear signal that pet grief is not a niche experience.
Is pet bereavement recognised in UK workplaces?
Not formally, though public opinion is ahead of policy. A survey of 2,000+ UK dog owners found 70% support a workplace right to leave to care for or mourn a pet, and 54% would favour dedicated bereavement leave — highest in Scotland at 66%. BrewDog has offered paid "pawternity leave" since 2017, and a 2019 petition after an employee, Emma McNulty, was dismissed following her dog's death gathered over 10,000 signatures. There's still no statutory right to pet bereavement leave in the UK.
Is there research into why losing a pet affects people so deeply?
A University of Edinburgh study (Anthrozoös, 2021), "I Can't Give Up When I Have Them to Care For," interviewed 119 adults, including 41 with a diagnosed mental health condition and 70 recently struggling. It found the responsibility of caring for a pet had acted as a genuine protective factor against suicidal feelings for many — which helps explain why losing that pet can feel like losing more than "just an animal."
Is there a proper pet funeral industry in the UK?
Yes, with real infrastructure behind it. Grand View Research, citing the Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria, put the UK pet funeral services market at £110 million in revenue in 2024, projected to reach £195 million by 2030 — growth of just over 10% a year. The market currently supports an estimated 10,000 pet funerals annually across more than 130 dedicated pet crematoria and cemeteries. A separate, wider "pet aftercare" market is valued at around $0.7 billion in 2024, rising to $1.3 billion by 2033 — a bigger figure covering a wider set of services, so the two shouldn't be blended.
Is this a niche industry, or is it becoming mainstream?
The consolidation happening is a good tell. In February 2025, VetPartners — a major veterinary group — acquired Pet Cremation Services, which operates 14 crematoria across the UK. Established corporate groups don't acquire businesses in markets they think are shrinking; that's what a maturing, commercially serious market looks like.
How much do UK pet owners spend on their pets overall?
Substantially, and growth has been dramatic. Statista, drawing on ONS-linked data, put UK consumer spending on pets and related products at £11.3 billion in 2023, up from £2.9 billion in 2005 — nearly four times higher in under twenty years. Veterinary and pet services alone accounted for £7.2 billion of that 2023 total.
Do UK owners spend money marking occasions for their pets, not just funerals?
Yes — this is the emotional groundwork that makes memorial products make sense to people. An Attest survey found 58% of UK owners buy birthday and Christmas presents for their pet. A Petplan survey found 80% plan to buy Christmas gifts for their pet, and in London specifically, 37% of "pet parents" buy their pet as many presents as their children. A Natural Dog Food Company survey found 89% of dog owners buy their dog a Christmas present, and 29% spend more on their dog than on extended family. These are brand-commissioned surveys, not government statistics — genuine data, worth citing as exactly that.
What does this tell us about why people memorialise a pet with something tangible?
Put the pieces together and the pattern is hard to miss. 95% of UK owners already consider their pet part of the family, and 73% have bought them something specifically to say "I love you" while they were alive. Close to nine in ten dog owners already buy their pet a Christmas gift. None of that stops the moment a pet dies — if anything, the impulse to mark the relationship with something physical gets stronger, which is exactly why a printed, wearable keepsake resonates: it continues a habit of care people were already practising, at the moment they need it most.
Are people still prioritising their pets even when money is tight?
Remarkably, yes — arguably the clearest evidence of how deep the attachment runs. PDSA's PAW Report found 34% of owners made a personal cost-saving sacrifice to keep affording their pet's care: 18% cut their own weekly food shop, 17% gave up personal luxuries, 16% reduced energy use, and 3% — around 770,000 owners nationally — went without necessities, including skipping their own meals. PDSA itself provided vet care to more than 390,000 pets in 2022 for owners who couldn't otherwise afford it.
Has this got worse recently?
PDSA's Pet Health Inequality Report (April 2026) found 1 in 10 owners had cut back on their own food, heating or essential travel to afford pet care, almost 1 in 20 had skipped heating their home entirely, two-thirds couldn't cover the cost of unexpected pet surgery, and 22% described pet ownership as more expensive than they'd expected. For hundreds of thousands of UK owners, caring for a pet has meant going without food or heating themselves — when that relationship ends, a lasting way to remember it isn't an indulgence, it's a continuation of a bond people were already sacrificing for.
Blue Cross Pet Loss Support (2023 impact figures) · House of Commons Library briefing CBP-9399 · BBC News · survey of 2,000+ UK dog owners on pet bereavement leave · Anthrozoös (University of Edinburgh, 2021) · Grand View Research, citing the Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria · VetPartners press release (February 2025) · Statista/ONS consumer spending data · Attest survey · Petplan survey · Natural Dog Food Company survey · Brooke survey · PDSA PAW Report 2023 · PDSA Pet Health Inequality Report (April 2026).
If you've lost a pet recently, we design memorial cards, bookmarks, foam boards and bandanas — free design help, unlimited proofs, and next-day delivery UK-wide. Visit our Pet Loss & Memorial Printing page to see the full range, or read the wider picture on our UK Pet Ownership Statistics page.
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