Parents Lie About the Death of Pets to Avoid Talking About Death

Some parents tell their children some shocking lies about things that are really important.

Whilst Father Christmas is a universally accepted falsehood, some mums and dads are actually telling youngsters their pet has gone to live on a farm rather than dying.

The poll from Blue Cross pet charity, is awful. It’s inconceivable that some parents think lying about death to children is appropriate.

“There are lots of different reasons why parents might tell little white lies to their children,” Tracie McGrory, Pet Bereavement Support Service Manager says.

“However there are times, such as the death of a family pet, parents may use little white lies to protect their child from emotional harm – sometimes parents simply don’t know how best to explain the death of a pet to a young child.

“When a pet dies, it may be a child or young person’s first experience of the death or loss of something close to them and it can bring about confusing thoughts and feelings.

“Our Pet Bereavement Support Service takes hundreds of calls and emails every week, many of which are from parents who are seeking advice on how to explain the loss of a pet to their kids.”

According to charity’s findings, the average parent believes that seven and a half is the first time children should first begin learning about death.

One in ten also replace the dead pet with a look alike to avoid having the difficult talk.

Though more bizarrely tell the child the animal has gone to live on a farm.

The Top 20 Lies Parents Tell Their Children List:

Father Christmas is watching you
We’ll see
We’re almost there
We’ll come back another time
Carrots will make you see in the dark
I always know when you’re lying
We can come back and buy that toy next time
I didn’t bring my purse with me today
If you watch the television too much, your eyes will go square
If you keep making that face, the wind will change and it will freeze
If you tell lies your nose will grow
If you touch it, it will break
They don’t sell replacement batteries for that toy
If you swallow chewing gum it stays in your stomach for seven years
There are fairies at the bottom of the garden
When the ice cream truck plays that music, it’s run out of ice cream
If you leave the house with wet hair, you’ll get sick
This is medicine, you wouldn’t like it
Father Christmas prefers a beer and crisps to a mince pie and milk
Your pet went to live on a farm in the country