In about one month, animal owners around the state will be able to call Iowa State’s new pet-loss-support hot line in order to receive information or counseling for when a pet dies.

The person behind the idea of Iowa State’s pet-loss-support hot line is program coordinator Jeanne Budgin, a sophomore in veterinary medicine.

“I was interested in providing a service that is needed,” Budgin said. “There are hot lines at other veterinary medicine schools. Both the students and the public benefit from it.”

Budgin pursued her idea after receiving support and encouragement from the ISU veterinary medicine faculty and administration.

“It will be a good experience for the students who will encounter this problem in their future practice,” Budgin said. “It will give them the opportunity to explore the human/pet bond.”

A six-hour training session for volunteers interested in staffing the hot line was held on Feb. 1 at the College of Veterinary Medicine. About 40 people, including many ISU veterinary medicine students, were in attendance. The session was led by Bonnie Mader of the University of California at Davis.

Mader is the originator of the nation’s first pet-loss-support hot line which opened seven years ago at the UC, Davis. There is a similar hot line operating at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Another pet-loss-support hot line is starting at Ohio State University.

“The hot line is not just for people who have just suddenly lost a pet,” said Dr. Loren Will, ISU assistant professor in preventative medicine and faculty adviser to the hot line. “It is also for people who may be potentially losing a pet.”

“People do go through a grieving period when a pet dies, especially those people who live alone. We will respond to the needs of individuals by serving as a crisis line and an informational line,” Will said.

The hot line, which has not yet been assigned a phone number, will begin to take calls March 1. Funding for the hot line has been provided by the Iams pet food company. The toll-free number will serve Iowa and parts of nearby states.