Pets and grief

Sir, – What a wonderful piece by Pamela McDonald about Samba, her pet cat ("Broadside: I'd forgotten about grief until our cat died", July 4th). It could have been about our dog, Nuts.

It is impossible to quantify what these pets give to a home, the love they introduce us to and the laughs they create for us. That love and pleasure would never have been ours without them. I feel her heartbreak. – Yours, etc,

THERESE JONES,

Clontarf, Dublin 3.

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Sir, – Well done to Pamela McDonald on a powerful and moving article. Grief is real after the death of a beloved pet. But so too are the happy memories of the pet’s life. – Yours, etc,

PATRICIA O’RIORDAN,

Dublin 8.