By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

FARMINGTON HILLS — Today, when pets pass away, veterinary clinics commonly give a keepsake imprint of the animal’s paw print to the bereaved owner.

No doubt the paw print is a beautiful gesture, but a person grieving a pet may have little else in the way of grief support.

Micky Golden Moore of Farmington Hills had such an experience when her two cats of 18 years, Pablo and Nellie, passed away within one month of each other. Golden Moore had enrolled in Madonna University’s hospice and bereavement studies program, and she put her studies to use to help fellow pet owners.

Golden Moore realized that there were no local support groups for grieving pet owners, so she started Beyond the Paw Print, a free support group.

“When you’re deep in your grief, you need people to help you,” said Golden Moore.

She combines firsthand knowledge with academic study. Golden Moore has a doctorate in communications and spent time living in Europe. When her father passed away from cancer and then her mother passed away after heart problems and Alzheimer’s disease, she couldn’t handle it.

“The pain was so bad, I couldn’t get over it,” she said.

Her mother’s lawyer recognized that the hospice and bereavement field could be Golden Moore’s calling. She led Golden Moore to Kelly Rhoades at Madonna, and that reawakened Golden Moore’s love of academia.

“I found my niche, and it has been a remarkable journey,” she said.

When the cats passed away, Rhoades encouraged Golden Moore to research that bereavement.

“It’s really a minimized or overlooked loss,” said Rhoades.

Beyond the Paw Print held its first meeting March 9 at Orchard United Methodist Church in Farmington Hills, and it drew 12 people.

“I have to get a bigger room,” said Golden Moore, who noted that though the group meets at a church, the group has no religious affiliation.

“People were so grateful to have a place to go,” said Golden Moore. At Beyond the Paw Print, no one will laugh at or minimize a person’s loss.

“I want people to have a voice. I want people to feel validated and that their loss story is being listened to,” she said.

Golden Moore said the group aims to help people along their healing journey. She said people might come to the group just two or three times, and that might be enough.

“I want them as long as they feel they’re getting something from it,” she said.

She said the goal is to help people embrace their loss and to gently nudge them toward what’s possible.

“I think she’s really a key person in being an advocate for grieving people,” said Rhoades. Golden Moore has the communications expertise and the bereavement study to make a difference for grieving pet owners and promote the group.

She said she is grateful to her veterinarian, David Whitten, who embraced her work and promoted it to a local veterinarian association.

“I’m really happy that she’s been able to carry this dream of hers through to fruition,” said Whitten, a veterinarian for 36 years.

He briefly closed his practice, Hilldale Veterinary Hospital in Southfield, to take a workshop with Golden Moore.

“She’s helped us to become better equipped to help people going through that kind of grief and discomfort,” he said.

However, people should not mistake the group for more than it is.

“This is a support group. It’s not counseling and it’s not therapy,” said Golden Moore. She said she will help people find those services if they need them.

She said each person’s grief is unique, and that grief can be complicated in accordance with the complications of human relationships. Grief for a pet can have a different feel.

“All they do is look at us with love and adulation, and they’re always there, and that is why the grief is different,” she said.

Golden Moore wants Beyond the Paw Print to help people find a way to turn their loss into something greater and make it a positive legacy.

For more information about Beyond the Paw Print, visit www.beyondthepawprint.com. People can e-mail Golden Moore at mgmoore@beyondthepawprint.com, or call Beyond the Paw Print at (248) 701-2345.

The group meets the second Monday of every month, 7-9 p.m. The next meeting is April 13. Orchard United Methodist Church is at 30450 Farmington Road, south of 14 Mile Road. E-mail or call Golden Moore to RSVP, even at the last minute.