Funerals for pets: a growth industry

Maryann Mott, who writes exclusively about pets for a variety of national publications, will be blogging at L.A. Unleashed from time to time. She lives in Arizona with K.C., a rescued Akita mix, and Sasha, an energetic 8-year-old Belgian sheepdog. You can see more of her work at petwriter.com.

Only a handful of pet funeral homes exist around the country, but that's about to soon change.

Next month, Coleen Ellis, owner of Pet Angel Memorial Center in Carmel, Ind., will begin franchising her pet funeral home business and plans to open 250 to 300 locations nationwide over the next seven years.

Ellis believes that pets, who are treated as family members by most owners, should receive the same quality after-care as humans.

Her service includes picking up the bodies of deceased pets from veterinary hospitals, where they're immediately wrapped in blankets and put into caskets. Back at the funeral home, staff members help guide grieving owners through a vast array of memorial and burial options. Most clients opt for "visitations" where last respects are paid in the chapel or family room, Ellis says.

During the private ceremonies, an urn with the pet's ashes is usually displayed so owners as well as friends, family and surviving pets can pay their final respects. About two visitations take place daily for a variety of furry and finned creatures including dogs, cats, rabbits, goldfish, rats and lizards.

Ellis says she started the country's first pet funeral home four years ago after the death of her dog Mico, a schnauzer mix.

It was then she discovered that her veterinarian, like most throughout the country, put euthanized animals in garbage bags and stored them in a freezer for up to one week. A disposal company then picked up the bodies and brought them to a landfill or crematory.

"Those babies do not deserve to be put into trash bags," Ellis says. "[With us] their body is given the dignity and respect all the way through."

An NPR report on funerals for pets details a service for Venus, a black Labrador in Scottsdale, Ariz.

And the Chicago Tribune reports:

Despite a slowdown in the U.S. economy, pet lovers with disposable income appear to be sparing no costs when it comes to keeping their animals dressed in the latest fashions, maintaining a lavish lifestyle at home and even funding funerals.

Sometimes that can mean a $10,000 marble casket of a $5,000 granite marker.

Photo: Charles Osgood/Chicago Tribune

Comments

[Mary Ellen]

Another indication of alientation of our society and our dependence on our pets for solace - rather than a human!

[MG]

I really don`t think this is needed.
I just had to have my dog put to sleep recently.
I arranged for individual cremation.
This was done through the Veterinary Hospital and the ashes were returned in an Urn with a certificate indicating that this was an individual cremation.
Why would anyone use such a Service?
It would seem that it would just be additional unnecessary cost.
You could make a donation to a rescue in memory of your pet rather than wasting it like this.
Friends don`t have to attend a Pet Funeral Home to express condolences.I always send a card when my friends lose a pet.They`re members of the family.
If they aren`t why would you have one?
As to the first comment...?
I don`t really understand it.
I couldn`t live without a pet.
That doesn`t mean I don`t have human companions.
It doesn`t have to be one or the other.
You can have both in your life.
I feel sorry for people who have never experienced the pure joy and love of an animal companion.
There really is nothing like it.

[wanda johnson]

Regardless of what others may think, you should give your pet the burial that you desire for that special pet. They are part of the family and we love them dearly. I personally agree with cremation for a beloved pet.