ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

RITA LOW may be 87 but she's never been busier. The retired marriage guidance counsellor from Acton is one of a growing number of Pet Bereavement Support Workers (PBSW). However, she stresses that she is not a counsellor.

"We are just listening ears and sometimes it's half-an-hour of someone just crying."

The Pet Bereavement Support Service (PBSS) operates as a helpline and is run by the Society of Companion and Animal Studies (SCAS) with The Blue Cross. Rita works from home and decides her own hours. "I try and work most days. At the moment, I am the only volunteer available during the weekends in the London area."

Her day starts at 7.30am when she walks her dogs. "After that, I don't have a specific routine. I come home and just get on with things. You are not chained to the phone because the co-ordinator always gives the caller an alternative number," she says.

When she is at home, Rita takes up to three calls a day and spends anything from five minutes to an hour on each call.

"I recently had a call from a 15-year-old girl with ME. She had been given a guinea pig and a cat for companionship, but the cat had died and she rang me very distraught."

The type of support Rita gives depends on the caller.

"Sometimes they want to talk about anything but the pet, and other times that's all they want to talk about." Some of the calls can be harrowing, especially when the death has been unexpected.

As well as lending a sympathetic ear, Rita also gives practical advice.

"I may have to point them to the right vet or refer them to books that help with the grieving process." At about 5pm, Rita takes her dogs for another walk. She makes a rule of not taking calls after 9pm. With the aid of a lottery grant, the PBSS is now expanding. Volunteers are being given more training and calls to the helpline have increased by about 50 per cent this year.

After three years, Rita say she has no intention of slowing down. "It's a job that suits pensioners, the disabled, or anyone housebound. It is incredibly flexible and no two days are the same."

QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Blue Cross and SCAS are now seeking more volunteers in the London area.

Volunteers don't necessarily have to love animals, but they must have: an understanding of the relationship between a human and their companion animal

* an interest in people

* the ability and desire to listen

* tact and diplomacy

* a good phone manner

* life experience (though there is no age limit) The Blue Cross and SCAS provide all training, which takes six months and is done by distance learning.

Anyone who has experienced the loss of a pet and needs to speak to someone can contact the PBSS free on 0800 0966606 to be put in touch with a support worker in their area.

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