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Funeral business opening to pets

By TOM ZUCCO
Published January 4, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Lara Cerri] Lisa Anders, with Sadie on her lap, has a final goodbye with her 14-year-old Dalmatian, Amber, at an Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home in St. Petersburg.

Lisa Anders positioned the tattered toy rabbit beside Amber's nose and leaned in close. "Such a good girl," Anders whispered, tears tumbling down her cheeks. "I know she's just a dog. But she was my best friend."

The downward spiral had begun months ago, but by Dec. 19, Amber could barely stand. Anders, 39, was so worried she spent the previous night sleeping on the floor next to her dog.

In the morning, when Amber fell at her water bowl and hit her head, Anders knew it was time.

The veterinarian came to her St. Petersburg home. As Anders cradled her dog in her lap, they gave Amber the shot.

A purebred Dalmatian who had trophies from the Mutt Derby at Derby Lane, a fear of lightning and a fondness for lizards and McDonald's Happy Meals, Amber was 14 when she died.

When a family loses a pet, one of two things usually happens: It is buried in the back yard, or, as is most often the case, left at the vet's office and cremated at some later date along with dozens of other animals.

Not this time.

After Amber died, Anders called her brother, who works for Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home, one of the few funeral homes in southwest Florida that offers pet cremations and customized memorial services. Amber was wrapped in her favorite blanket, taken to the funeral home, and the service was arranged for that afternoon.

The cost was the standard fee - $150 including cremation, which would take place after the service.

But before that would happen, in a quiet room with her trophies, rabbit and best friend close by, Amber lay on a marble bench, half covered by her blanket.

"I'm just happy I can see her again," Anders said. "I don't feel like I'm abandoning my dog."

* * *

Two national trends, one involving humans and the other pets, have caught the attention of America's funeral industry.

As religious and social views change, traditional human burials are giving way to cremations. The cremation rate in America stood at about 25 percent in 1999. But by 2005, it had jumped to 30 percent and is projected to be well above 50 percent by 2025.

Some states are already ahead of the curve. Florida, which is second only to California in number of annual deaths, saw its cremation rate climb to more than 48 percent in 2005.

As burials decline, so does funeral home revenue. While the average full funeral costs about $6,000, according to the Federal Trade Commission, the average direct cremation costs about $1,000.

To help fill the gap, the funeral industry had to be creative. It introduced Webcasts of funerals, which allows those who can't attend the service to watch on-line.

And it ventured into the pet business.

More than 60 percent of American households have pets, and in 2005, the country spent more than $35-billion on those animals, double the amount spent just a decade earlier.

Most of that money was spent on food, veterinary care and over-the-counter medications. But Americans also spent $2.3-billion in 2005 on such extras as boarding and grooming.

So the door is open for the funeral industry to grab a slice of the pet care market.

But they're coming slowly. About a decade ago, only a handful of the nation's 22,000 funeral homes offered personalized pet services. Today, the number is closer to 500 and would be higher, industry officials say, except that many states, including Florida, require that animals be cremated in a building separate from one used for humans. Those buildings can easily cost more than $100,000.

Still, as the bond between people and their pets grows, so can the bond between people and the funeral industry. If pet owners like the service they get for their animals, the theory goes, they might return for a service for a human loved one.

"Without a doubt pet funerals are growing," said Mike St. Pierre, president of the National Funeral Directors Association. "As families are becoming detached, dogs or cats become as close as any member of the family."

To underscore his point, St. Pierre, a fifth-generation funeral director in Indianapolis, said about 80 percent of pet owners who have their animals cremated at his facility ask for an urn to keep the remains. About half as many families ask for urns for the cremated remains of human loved ones, even though the price for human and pet urns is similar.

"Doesn't make sense, does it?" St. Pierre asked. "But we also get as many thank-you notes for animal services as we do for humans."

Since building its $150,000 pet cremation facility last fall, St. Petersburg-based Anderson-McQueen has done more than 200 pet funerals, nearly all of them for dogs or cats. But they have also held services for birds, rabbits, ferrets and an iguana. "We try to treat it no different from a human service," said funeral home co-owner Bill McQueen, "because sometimes, the grief is more intense than on the human side."

At Anderson-McQueen, pets that die are removed from the home or a vets office and refrigerated until the service, which is usually the same day. Paw prints are taken for the owners, and the pet is fitted with a stainless steel tag for identification.

Cremation usually follows a short time later.

"At $150 a service, we're not making a whole lot of money," McQueen said. "But it also allows me to build a relationship with the family. We've already had several pet people make their own prefuneral arrangements with us.

"And we think it really helps," he added, "because when you lose a pet at a vet's office, it's a clinical setting. And you walk out with just a leash and a collar in your hand."

Six days before Christmas, Lisa Anders wouldn't have to do that. She took time off from her job as an office worker and spent more than an hour petting Amber one last time.

"I've never had to put a dog down before," she said, "and I keep telling myself I did the right thing.

"But seeing her again, at peace and out of her suffering, makes it better."

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Tom Zucco can be reached at zucco@sptimes.com or (727)893-8247.

A growing service

Americans spend billions each year on their pets, and it's not all for vet bills and chew toys. For about $150, people who lose their dog, cat or even their iguana can get a private funeral service, including a viewing and cremation. Nearly 500 funeral homes nationwide now offer the service, up from roughly a dozen a decade ago.

[Last modified January 3, 2007, 23:05:07]