Pet funerals let sleeping dogs lie

THE backyard is no longer the final resting place for Fido or Fluffy, nor is the toilet bowl the gateway to goldfish heaven.

People are spending more than $5000 on elaborate funeral services for their pets, commissioning cremations, headstones and hand-crafted urns to ensure their animals rest in peace.

According to business information analysts IBISWorld, Australians will spend about $10 million on funerals for pets this year.

IBISWorld senior industry analyst Edward Butler said pet funerals had increased around 10 per cent every year since 2002.

“Fifteen years ago it was wacky to stage a burial for your pet,” he said.

“But the big trend of people marrying later and having children later coupled with rising disposable income means people are tending to lavish a bit more on their pets.”

Owner of the western Sydney-based Animal Memorial Cemetery and Crematorium, Shane McGraw, said business had more than doubled in less than five years and he now conducted hundreds of cremations and burials per month. 

“People sometimes light incense or candles, or play music and let off balloons,” he said.

“Not everyone goes that far - some people literally just want to have somewhere rather than have their pet sent to the tip.”

At about $300, cremations are more popular than burials, which can cost more than $5000. 
Mr McGraw said one owner had commissioned a $7000 headstone when they buried their dog.

“We cremate and bury anything from ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, kangaroos, sheep, fish, chickens, all the way up to horses - you’d be amazed what people keep as pets,” Mr McGraw said.

:We’ve also got about 20 or 30 people’s ashes buried here in graves with their pets.”

Yvonne Bower had her rottweiler, Princess, cremated at Sydney pet funeral company Pets At Peace last month, and has kept its ashes in a memorial photo box.

She has had numerous dogs cremated there in the past two years.

“They’re like children to us. When we get the ashes we always buy a cake and talk about happy things,” she said. 

From:  The Daily Telegraph

Granite Pet Memorials

Though everyone knows death exists and that it will strike one day, dealing with the death of a loved one is a traumatic task. Perhaps, all that someone can do on the death of a loved one is to express grief and allow time to heal the pain.

The death of a pet is no different from the death of a human, even though there are quite a few people who think that it is not worth mourning a pet. Pet-lovers are sentimental and need some closure after the passing of a cherished four-legged companion. The law in most states permits only the cremation of animals and so pet-lovers have no opportunity to visit a pet’s resting place. Hence, a pet memorial is the most appropriate way to pay homage to a departed pet.

A pet memorial can be as unique as a bereaved pet-lover would want it to be. Most people opt for a simple plaque to commemorate the bond of love that they shared with their pets. A granite pet memorial consists of engraved plaques that can be laid over the pet’s last refuge or be fitted in the pet-lover’s home.

Granite monuments, designed especially for pets are available on the Internet. They are engraved with the pet’s name and important dates, at no extra cost. Some granite plaque manufacturers also offer to engrave salutary remarks, quotes and epitaphs for the pet. A wonderful feature, available through some sellers, is laser carving, which enables the pet-lover to engrave the pet’s picture on to the granite.

Granite plaques come in a range of colors and very often the visibility of the engraving depends on the color. For instance, darker granite is the best suited for laser engravings whereas a lighter one is suited for verbal etchings.

Granite pet memorials are everlasting and can literally immortalize the pet in stone. Most people choose to lay it in a place they can visit often or the pet’s favorite location.

Pet Memorials provides detailed information on Pet Memorials, Pet Memorial Stones, Pet Memorial Markers, Online Pet Memorials and more. Pet Memorials is affiliated with Pet Services.

By: Max Bellamy

Ashes to Ashes….Dust to ART!

As Memorial Day approaches, cemeteries across the U.S. will fill with flags to honor those who died in the service of our country. People who have lost a loved one or an adored pet may be searching for a similarly appropriate way to memorialize their loss. Art From Ashes, a new Internet firm based in Amherst, MA, creates extraordinary memorials by integrating a small amount of human or pet cremains into beautiful, handcrafted glass sculptures, perfume bottles, jewelry or glass-topped walking sticks.

“Our remembrances are discrete enough to sit on a workplace desk, yet are beautiful enough to feature as unique works of art in their own right,” says Deb Brown, who founded the firm with Jane Giat and Jenny Bourgeois. “The cremains are incorporated into the glass in such a way that people don’t know it’s a memorial unless they are told.”

The response of customer Patty Gorman-Bishop, from Florence, MA, is typical: “For nine years I had my mother’s ashes in a drawer, unsure how to display them. I wanted something evocative of my mother, not a traditional urn. I’m so glad I discovered Art From Ashes. I ordered a cobalt blue perennial, which catches the sunlight on my windowsill. It’s vibrant and matches my mother’s personality.”

Of the many animals memorialized by Art From Ashes, none is more famous than Washoe, the first chimpanzee to learn American Sign Language and pass it on to her adopted son. Deborah Fouts, director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute in Ellensburg, WA, where Washoe was raised, explains, “Because of Washoe’s outstanding and unique qualities, we were delighted to learn about the one-of-a-kind remembrances that Art From Ashes creates. Our Board members were touched and surprised when each was presented with an exquisite piece of art memorializing Washoe.”

“Those who grieve cherish their memories each and every day of the year,” says Giat. “An Art from Ashes remembrance honors the memory of a deceased loved one using the aesthetic to express the spiritual.”

For full information on the distinctive blown glass art memorials available from Art From Ashes, visit http://www.artfromashes.com.