Sandra Lynne
Mitchell
Author • Animal Professional • Pet Loss Grief Specialist
My life and work have always followed the same threads: animals, stories and connection. Today they come together through my writing, a lifetime spent alongside animals, and supporting people through pet loss.
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THE THREAD THAT CONNECTS IT ALL
Animals, stories
and connection.
Animals have been the one constant through a life that has changed countries, careers and direction. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting beside lion cubs at Pretoria Zoo, being forever horse-crazy, rescuing small creatures and spending every moment I could around animals and nature.
I cannot say there was ever a carefully mapped-out plan. I followed instinct, curiosity and the things that felt meaningful. The places have changed and the work has evolved, but somehow every path has led back to animals, connection and the natural world.
A little about me
01 / BOOKS & WRITING
Words for
what matters.
My writing begins with my own experience, shaped by a lifetime spent loving and living alongside animals. I return often to love, grief, memory and the little moments we hardly notice at the time, but which return to us later as keepsakes.
Poetry became a way of putting words around feelings that are often difficult to express. Tails of Tribute: A Pet Loss Poetry Collection, written with my sister Deborah Lee Wortmann, grew from that place, alongside my wider personal essays and poetry.
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Tails of Tribute.
Tails of Tribute began with my sister.
When Deborah lost Chloe, I wanted to find a way to help her through the grief, to hold on to the life they had shared and to give that loss somewhere to belong. What began as a simple wish to create something meaningful in Chloe’s memory became the first thread of Tails of Tribute.
From there, it grew into a place where other people could honour the animals they had loved too, through stories, tributes and remembrance, while also finding support, understanding and reassurance after loss.
At its heart, Tails of Tribute is still about the same thing it was at the beginning: recognising that these relationships matter, that the loss of an animal can leave a profound space in our lives, and that their stories deserve to be remembered.
Visit Tails of TributePET LOSS
Pet Loss
Grief Specialist.
Pet loss can bring a depth of grief that is difficult to explain, particularly when the world around you does not always recognise the significance of the relationship you have lost.
I offer grieving pet guardians a space to speak openly, be heard without judgement and feel understood. My work is particularly focused on euthanasia decisions, the guilt and questions that can follow, and the months afterwards when grief may still be very present.
My approach is gentle and regulation-based. It is not about taking grief away or pushing someone to move on, but offering enough support and comfort to make what they are carrying a little easier to hold.
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02 / ANIMAL WORK
A life alongside
animals.
Animals have been part of my working life for almost as long as I can remember, from horses and the African safari world to professional falconry, birds of prey, animal work for film and television, and now Mini Ferrets EU.
The species and places have changed, but what matters to me has remained remarkably constant: observation, relationship and trust. Whether reading the signs of the African bush, earning the confidence of a frightened bird or discovering once again just how much an animal is capable of, I have learned that the best work begins by paying attention to the animal in front of you.
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BEHIND THE WORK
My story.
There are many chapters behind the work you see here.
Different places, different animals, different turns in the road, all part of the same story.