Pet Memorial Care

The Business Landscape

Pet Revolution
Have you ever stood in a field full of wild flowers and wondered if you were the only one seeing the flowers? This comment was shared with me recently after a long discussion with a client about the business opportunity with Pet Loss Services. More and more consumers are demonstrating their unbridled love and affection for their family pets as we watch unprecedented spending (Reported $39 Billion Dollars in Y2005) on products & services within the animal care industry. We are in the midst of a "Pet Revolution" as pet owners speak loud and clear through their wallets that there are no boundaries when it comes to pampering these important family members. At Matthews Cremation, as the oldest and largest manufacturer of crematory equipment (IEE and ALL brand equipment) in the country, our fastest growing demand is within the animal services industry. I live in a community in central Florida that demonstrates daily the importance of pets within the family. Our downtown retail shops provide fresh watering bowls outside their doors and encourage owners to bring in their pets to shop, browse and enjoy a doggie gourmet cookie. I recently enjoyed watching hundreds of proud pet owners stroll their pets in tailor made Halloween costumes in our local park. Our area has its own Pet Yellow Page booklet (42 pages) exclusively dedicated to pet care services, an annual Dog Art Festival and growing Pet Au Pair services. I find it fascinating that while our area supports roughly 50 funeral homes caring for human loss, only 2 Pet Crematories were noted within this dedicated Yellow Page resource…a business opportunity anyone?

A Search for Significance
What makes this subject captivating as it relates to our industry is how most funeral professionals struggle with the thought of supporting memorial care for pets. We all dedicate some level of resources to finding ways to differentiate our services to the community. Especially within the death care industry, as we watch cremation re-define our business practices, we are challenged with the task of finding more meaningful services that offer genuine value to families and enhance revenue to our operation. How many more years can we read about declining operating profits or "surviving cremation" and ask ourselves, what are my options that will provide real significance to the consumer and connect my business to this growing audience?

Human and Animal - Inseparable
Witnessing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina will most likely resonate on the minds of anyone who lived through the tragedy, volunteered in relief efforts or watched from a distance through various media outlets. Time and time again, one of the more compelling stories that came from this disaster were the countless examples of resident victims who would not leave their homes because the emergency transport vehicle (Helicopter, Boat, Bus, etc..) would not allow them to bring their pets on board. These pet owners passionately demonstrated through numerous rescue attempts that they would rather sacrifice their life than leave their pets to an uncertain future. When asked if it was unusual to dedicate so much time and effort to saving the local animals (versus attention to human needs), the Director of Humane Society shared with a CNN commentator, "If you were here at ground zero, you would see that the issue between the two (human & pet) is inseparable. We have families who are inconsolable, frantically trying to find their family pets that were separated at the time of the storm." No one can tell us that the emotional connection to the family pet isn't equally passionate, unconditional and tremendously important. How can anyone think that at the time of a pet's death, appropriate memorial care wouldn't be demanded from their owners?

Move over "Community" - We want "Private"
What we have learned quickly through listening to the consumer is a growing preference towards meaningful Pet Loss services, more memorial options and greater ways to celebrate the life of this companion…sounds familiar? Most of Matthews Cremation's early clientele who invested in animal incinerators got into the business because of a necessity and a form of "animal death management". The term "community" cremation (where numerous animals are cremated at the same time in the same cremation chamber) was the primary cremation disposition amongst these early service pioneers. Even though this is still widely used as a business practice today, more and more animal cremation facilities are being confronted with a stronger consumer demand for "private" cremations where only their pet is cremated, "one at a time". Pet owners want their pet's cremated remains returned (without commingling) so that they can decide the most appropriate way to memorialize this special companion. The reassurances a family requires when we perform cremation services for humans can be exactly the same when we talk about the handling of a family pet. The cremation concern over "chain of custody" is equally powerful for many pet owners as it is with any human service.

An Unfamiliar Territory - Funeral Care for Pets
While the consumer demand for "private", individual cremations continues to grow rapidly, we begin to witness a funeral "memorial calling" that steps beyond most animal care provider's comfort zone. The concept of providing what industry experts might define as "funeral care" for pets and their owners is not a familiar road for most animal crematories. Recently we performed a modest internal phone survey with a random list of animal care clients (handling nearly 120,000 pet services per year) to discuss their products and service offering for pet owners. While all provided the standard cremation services - Communal or Private, when it came to offering more meaningful, personalized products, they gravitated to a standard answer… THE URN…sound familiar? What we are witnessing right before our eyes is a paradigm shift relating to pet memorial care where it is no longer about disposal and just an urn but more about a meaningful final farewell that could include a committal service, video tribute, keepsakes and garden memorials. The consumer is demanding something much more meaningful, much more dignified… much more appropriate and guess what, who do you think is best positioned to handle these types of services? Who is experienced in offering grief counseling support within the community? Who could be a valued resource and connect to an audience they may not be currently serving today but could be serving tomorrow? Pet owner's memorial expectations are going to either offer businesses an opportunity to flourish or eliminate those who are unable to adapt. There is one thing that is fairly predictable when it comes to working with today's consumers…they will support the businesses who are able to address and fulfill their needs and expectations in the most appropriate and meaningful manner. If we can't service their emotional needs, rest assured they will find someone who can. There's a knock at the door, hello pet owners.

Steven Schaal is the division manager - Sales and Marketing for the Matthews Cremation Division. He can be reached at sschaal@matw.com.