Heartbreaking Photos Of Owners Saying Goodbye To Their Pets (Photos)

A photographer who specialises in capturing one final, emotionally-charged photoshoot between ageing pets and their owners has shared some of the tear-jerking images she's taken.

Lauren Smith-Kennedy, 28, who lives in Portland, Maine, takes poignant black-and-white photos of owners enjoying cherished time with their beloved pets as the animals approach the end of their lives.

The pet photographer says she hopes the images provide some comfort to the owners when their pets have passed - and reveals she's been asked to fly all over the world for her job.

Smith-Kennedy says: 'It really is a truly heartbreaking time for any family on their own journey of grief.

'It's the profound heartbreak you feel knowing the life you have shared with that animal and anyone who has had a pet can relate to that.'

She says she struggles to contain her own emotions when she looks back on the photos but holds it together while shooting the images.

'When I'm there, I'm doing my job and if I let my own feelings become a distraction it would take away from giving the family the gift of remembrance.'

'But when I'm driving home and when I sit and look at the pictures, that's when my emotions catch up on me.'

Discussing some of the hardest photoshoots she's done, she says watching two young children saying goodbye to their 11-year-old border collie, CC, was difficult.

The photo shows the siblings crouched down around the pet, having been prompted to 'give him some love', and each express this in entirely different ways.

The young boy is moved to tears as he reaches out to touch his pet, and his mother looks over sympathetically at her heartbroken son.

Within the same image, a young girl shares a fond memory of her time with the dog, which prompts a smile from her grandparents who look down lovingly.

The photographer, who lives with her boyfriend Brendan, 30 and four-year-old cat Percy, says the images 'really show the different dynamics of how people deal with their grief.

'I don't tell them how to feel, I just prompt them to do something with their dog and this inspires memories that lead them to feel a certain way.

'I have been inundated with requests, some people even offering to fly me places, but I can't always do it because of my work in animal rescue.

'I started doing this because of Tilly, it allows me to work through my own grief, but also honour all of these other wonderful pets. It has been very cathartic.'

And while dogs are the main focus of her work, Lauren has also been asked to photograph the final moments of other animals - including a pet rat.

She said: 'We honoured a rat called Velma, rats don't live very long and she was suffering from respiratory problems, she was just so sweet and loving, and was loved very much by her family.

'Lots of people wouldn't necessarily think of having the same love for rats as with cats and dogs but it's about the connection we build and the memories we create.