3 Acclaimed Authors to Explore Love, Loss, and Remembrance in Virtual Pet-Loss Roundtable Oct. 17 on Zoom

DANVERS, MA -- Perfect Paws Pet Ministry at All Saints Episcopal Church of the North Shore will host three distinguished authors in “Loving, Losing, and Cherishing Our Pets,” a gentle, thoughtful virtual roundtable celebrating the profound bonds people share with their animal companions.

The event will take place on Saturday, October 17, from 2 to 4 PM on Zoom (Meeting ID 818 9964 4100) and is free and open to the public. Because interest in this topic is high, and to ensure a meaningful conversation with the authors, participation is limited to a first-come, first-served basis.

The program will feature E.B. Bartels, author of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter; Dr. Karen Fine, DVM, author of The Other Family Doctor; and Ellen Finnie, author of the award-winning The Ten Perfections: Spiritual Lessons from a Life with Dogs.

Drawing on memoir, cultural research, veterinary experience, and spiritual reflection, the authors will explore what it means to love animals well, to navigate their loss with grace, and to cherish the lasting imprint they leave on human lives.

It is one of several events held during Companion Animal Remembrance Month, a multi-event observance sponsored by the Perfect Paws Pet Ministry to raise awareness of the grief that follows the loss of an animal friend and to affirm that this grief deserves compassion and support.

Research shows pet loss can cause significant, sometimes prolonged, emotional distress. In a nationally representative 2026 study of 975 U.K. adults, 21% of respondents who had experienced the death of a beloved pet—and nearly all of whom had also experienced a human bereavement—identified the pet’s death as their most distressing loss. Among people grieving the death of a pet, 7.5% met the study’s symptom criteria for prolonged grief disorder — even though current diagnostic guidelines allow that diagnosis only after the death of a human loved one. An earlier, smaller survey in Japan found that 56.1% of participating bereaved pet owners experienced symptoms the researchers identified as heightened anxiety‑related responses shortly after their
pets died.

Each author will introduce her work and offer a brief reading before joining a shared conversation about love, vulnerability, grief, and remembrance. Audience questions will follow, along with closing reflections from the authors. Attendees may also remain for an optional informal conversation with Perfect Paws Pet Ministry’s pet-loss bereavement counselors.

Event Details

What: Loving, Losing, and Cherishing Our Pets
When: Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 2 to 4 PM
Where: Virtual event on ZOOM
Meeting ID: 818 9964 4100

Cost: Free; admission is first-come, first-served.

Featured Authors

E.B. Bartels, author of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, is a nonfiction writer and GrubStreet instructor with a BA from Wellesley College and an MFA from Columbia University. Her work has appeared in Slate, Salon, Literary Hub, WBUR, Catapult, Electric Literature, The Believer, and The Rumpus, among others. Her book examines how people mourn, memorialize, and continue loving animals after death.

Karen Fine, DVM, author of The Other Family Doctor, is a holistic veterinarian who writes about the human-animal bond, holistic veterinary medicine, pet loss, grief, and narrative medicine. For twenty-five years, she owned and operated a house-call practice. Dr. Fine currently practices small animal medicine in Central Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband, son, and an assortment of rescue animals.

Ellen Finnie, author of The Ten Perfections: Spiritual Lessons from a Life with Dogs, is a retired librarian whose two lifelong passions are dogs and writing. She serves as a therapy dog instructor and dog handler with Dog B.O.N.E.S: Therapy Dogs of Massachusetts and is certified as both a dog trainer and, most recently, a pet loss bereavement counselor.

The two-hour program is designed for pet lovers, people grieving the death of an animal companion, faith and community leaders, veterinary and shelter professionals, and anyone seeking to better understand and support those experiencing pet loss. It will include brief author introductions, a roundtable conversation on animal companionship and bereavement, readings or reflections from the featured books, and time for audience questions.

Perfect Paws Pet Ministry’s Companion Animal Remembrance Month creates multiple opportunities to honor animals who have died and recognize pet loss as a significant form of bereavement, including the Ceremony of the Roses in the church’s St. Francis Meditation and Pet Memorial Garden, and the monthly Hand to Heart Peer Group Pet Loss Bereavement gathering. Through the month’s events, Perfect Paws Pet Ministry at All Saints North Shore hopes to foster understanding, connection, and compassionate support for those grieving the loss of an animal companion.

For more information, please call our parish office at 978-774-1150 and visit our All Saints and Perfect Paws websites.