Pet Loss Grief Counselor
Client Support & Bereavement Services
Reports to: Practice Manager / Director of Client Services
Employment type: Full-time, Hybrid
Schedule: Monday–Friday, with rotating shifts.
Location: Mumbai
About the Role
Losing a pet is a profound loss, and the people who walk through our doors deserve more than a sympathy card. We are hiring a Pet Loss Grief Counselor to sit with our clients through the hardest moments of pet ownership — terminal diagnoses, euthanasia decisions, sudden loss, and the weeks and months that follow.
This is a dedicated, on-site role embedded in our clinical team. You will support pet parents directly, coach our veterinary staff on compassionate communication, and build out the clinic's bereavement program from the ground up. You will also help our own team members process the cumulative grief that comes with this work.
Key Responsibilities
Direct client support
- Provide one-on-one grief counseling to pet parents before, during, and after the loss of a companion animal, in person and by phone or video.
- Be present for euthanasia appointments when families request support, and offer immediate post-appointment care.
- Support clients facing anticipatory grief during terminal diagnoses, hospice care, and quality-of-life decision-making.
- Help clients navigate guilt and second-guessing around euthanasia timing, cost-driven decisions, and treatment choices.
- Provide age-appropriate support to children experiencing a first death, and coach parents on how to talk with them.
- Conduct follow-up contact at defined intervals after a loss (e.g., 48 hours, two weeks, and around the one-year mark).
Staff support and training
- Train veterinarians, technicians, and front-desk staff in compassionate communication, delivering difficult news, and euthanasia-day protocols.
- Facilitate debriefs after difficult cases and support staff experiencing compassion fatigue, moral distress, and burnout.
- Advise on clinic policies, physical space, and scheduling practices that affect the end-of-life experience for families.
Required Qualifications
- Certification in pet loss and bereavement support from a recognized program — for example the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement (APLB) Pet Loss Grief Specialist certificate, the AIHCP Pet Loss Grief Support Specialist certification, or the University of Vermont Pet Loss Support Group Specialist certificate. Candidates actively enrolled with a defined completion date will be considered.
- Two or more years of experience providing grief, bereavement, hospice, crisis, or pastoral support in any setting.
Preferred Qualifications
- Licensure as an LCSW, LPC, LMHC, LMFT, or equivalent, or credentialing as a chaplain.
- Training in veterinary social work or the human–animal bond (anthrozoology).
- Prior experience in a veterinary practice, animal shelter, or pet hospice service.
- Experience facilitating support groups.
- Training in child bereavement.
- Bilingual ability reflecting the languages spoken by our client community.
Working Conditions
- On-site in a working veterinary clinic, with regular exposure to animals, medical procedures, and animal death.
- Emotionally demanding work with sustained exposure to grief and to the risk of compassion fatigue.
- Some scheduling flexibility required, as appointments are often scheduled at the end of the day or on weekends.
Pay: ₹50,000.00 - ₹90,000.00 per month
Work Location: In person
