Rob Gierka

Rob Gierka is an expert in pet loss and has years of experience as a veterinary chaplain and chaplaincy educator. He holds a doctoral degree in professional and continuing adult education from North Carolina State University with a research focus on the human-animal bond and pet loss. In 2004, Rob launched the Pet Chaplain community service and education organization and began providing interfaith spiritual support to pet keepers in his community. He served as the on-call chaplain at a large veterinary teaching hospital for nearly two years and has facilitated a pet loss support group on behalf of the SPCA since 2006. In partnership with co-author Karen Duke, he developed and taught an online course in veterinary chaplaincy for five years.