New Business Watch: Pet Funeral Home

I’m always intrigued by new businesses that open in WNY.  However, this business has to be the most intriguing idea I’ve heard in a while.

Below is part of an article about Pet Heaven Funeral Home that is in today’s Buffalo News:

“Joe Wales, a retired Orchard Park police officer, was inspired to open Pet Heaven Funeral Home when he read a story of a woman frustrated by her inability to find help after her cat died. He and his wife, Mona, a retired bus aide, researched the business and found a building to lease on North Buffalo Road.

The home, which opened July 14, provides all types of products and services, from selling caskets to cremating animals. The Waleses sell urns, self-help books and pet-themed sympathy cards.

The Waleses will pick up an animal for cremation or burial, or they can help an owner bury a pet.

“If you are a very strong animal lover, it’s very hard,” Mona Wales said about the death of a pet. “They’re a part of the family, and it’s very hard not to get emotional.”

For many empty-nesters, workaholics, divorcees, widows and families, pets become companions that are cherished like sons or daughters, said Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association.

“People are putting these human qualities into a pet that makes them treat [their pet] like a little furry human and makes them provide everything up to a proper funeral,” he said.

Pet funeral homes are the latest in a growing line of businesses fueled by Americans’ devotion their pets. Pet owners can spend their money on pet luxury items ranging from fashionable attire to organic dog food and even knee replacement surgeries.

Sixty-three percent of U. S. households own a pet, according to the 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey. Of those, freshwater fish top the popularity list with 142 million, followed by 88.3 million cats and 74.8 dogs.

Owners have steadily spent more money on pet products, from $41.2 billion in 2007 to an expected $43.4 billion this year, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

And pet funeral homes and related services, like pet cemeteries, will account for more and more of that spending, Vetere said.

“This is getting to be one of the hottest business subsections in the pet industry,” he said.

The businesses originally were near cities like Los Angeles or New York, he said, where people typically spent more on their pets.

“It caught on so quickly and so completely that it’s spread to every section in the country,” he said.

Mona Wales said she drew inspiration from the decor of funeral homes and found appropriate products by flipping through catalogs. The home has a guest book for visitors and quotes about loss on the wall.

Urns start at $5 and go up to $15 0. The more expensive urns are made of wood or are crafted locally, Mona Wales said. There are also urns that are biodegradable and sprout flowers in the spring.

Cremation costs begin at $42 and increase depending on the animal’s size. Caskets, often lined with fleece or elaborate fabric with gold trim, begin at $15 and go up to $250.

The funeral home provides plenty of space for whatever fits a pet owner’s comfort level. An owner can pull around to the back to bring the pet for cremation, watch the cremation through a window or take a few moments to say goodbye in a private viewing room.

The viewing room also provides a place for the casket to be shown if the owner wants to have a memorial service of poetry and music, she said.

Kym Riedel, who leads the services, also runs a support group at Pet Heaven on Tuesday nights called “The Empty Leash.” It is held upstairs in a cozy room with a round table and chairs, decorated by pet photos.

When Riedel’s cat, Opie, was dying, she met a lot of people looking for a place to grieve and a group of people to talk to, she said.

The sessions run for nine weeks and conclude with a memorial service. Each meeting focuses on topics like feeling guilty for putting a pet to sleep, overcoming depression and loneliness and knowing if it is time to get a new pet, she said.

“If there is no closure, you can’t get over the stages of grief,” she said. “This makes them come to grips with it.”

In the past, her groups have consisted mostly of men because of the stigma against men telling other men about loss of a pet, Riedel said.

Though Riedel is unpaid and asks only for freewill donations to cover the costs of snacks and decorations, she called the self-help sessions her “passion.”

“It is very, very rewarding to see someone who spends months of suffering go out and get a new pet,” she said. “It’s something we celebrate.”

The Waleses plan to buy land for a five-acre pet cemetery once their funeral home business takes off. They have their eyes on a spot in Chestnut Ridge Park and hope to get the cemetery up and running by next year. A sketch of the plan adorns one of the building’s walls.

Riedel praised the Waleses for their commitment to both animals and pet owners. “They gave everything they had to open this up, and I think that’s very commendable,” she said.”

Very interesting.  I wish the new business owners all the best!

Posted by on 07/24 at 10:44 AM