THE calls to the house in Dovedale Road, Breightmet, come at any time of the day or night.

At the other end of the line is a person in total distress, unable to cope. Their pet has died.

And while for many people this may seem hardly a major trauma compared to the death of a relative or friend, Judith Ramsden knows that the effect can be just as dramatic.

Judith is a pet bereavement befriender. A counsellor. A Samaritan-like person who will listen, and help the caller make sense of it all. She fields on average 20 calls a month, mainly from women, occasionally from men, and sometimes from distraught children.

What they all have in common is that they cannot come to terms with the death of a much-loved pet -- be it cat, dog or guinea pig.

"Often it is all about guilt," explained Judith. "It's not like when a parent dies, for example. You have not taken the decision that they will die.

"But, when you take a pet to the vet's to be put down -- even though this is because you love it and perhaps don't want it to suffer anymore -- you are taking the decision.

"And that can be very hard to accept."

Judith understands about the emotional pull of pets. She used to breed cats, and currently she and husband John share the family home with dogs Jenny and Oliver, and cats, Amy, Polyanna, Harriet and Priscilla.

She also understands about bereavement, and helping people to come to terms with loss. She spent 47 years as a nurse -- 32 of those at Bury's Fairfield Hospital where she cared for the elderly.

For the past 10 years she was also involved in general bereavement counselling at the hospital.

An advert in the Bolton Evening News by the Blue Cross animal charity for pet bereavement befrienders resulted in Judith taking a six-month, NVQ-type distance learning course.

"I knew that there was a part of me that still needed to care and help people," said Judith, now 62 and a grandmother. She is now a regional befriending co-ordinator for the charity, which has over 100 befrienders spread across the country including a dozen in this region.

Judith initially takes calls from all over Lancashire, Cumbria, Derbyshire and Cheshire.

"People need to talk, to work things out for themselves," she states quietly. "The silence is often the most important thing, the ability to let people talk and you just listen." People are often in tears, incoherent even. Some resort to drink in their sorrow. It's very hard to lose an animal you dearly love," Judith added. "And as a pet is often someone's only companion they miss them dreadfully."

Help is just a call away

The Blue Cross support line number is 0800-096-6606, open seven days a week 8.30am to 8.30pm with an answerphone outside these hours. Anyone who would like to volunteer to help can ring 01993-825539.