Pet crematoriums give animal owners honorable means to send off their fur babies

The pain of losing a pet to death is as unimaginable as when someone loses a person they love.

This is what pet crematoriums understand, leading them to offer services for these beautiful creatures and to its owners who have poured their hearts out for their animal companions.

When a pet inevitably reaches the end of their time on earth and with their owners, the usual way for humans to say goodbye to them is usually set in a backyard, where they will say their last words and bury them.

However, pet crematoriums such as Cosmopolitan Memorial Chapels and Crematory and Rainbow Bridge have given pet owners more options to bid farewell to their deceased pets in an honorable manner.

Cosmopolitan Memorial Chapels and Crematory offers cremation services not only for humans, but also for pets.

Its sales and marketing officer Karen Malabed told GMA News Online that they had seen how dearly owners cared for their pets, but many of them don’t know how to properly send them off when they die.

Rainbow Bridge, for its part, said its aim was to “assist bereaved families of deceased pets to ensure their safety (owner’s sanitation and other surviving pets) and to give dignity to their pets’ bodies even after life and ultimately give them pleasant memorabilia similar to when humans pass on to the next life.”

Both the services Cosmopolitan and Rainbow Bridge offer allow the owners to bring home memorabilia of their pets.

According to Malabed, they offer pet cremation to let the owners know that they have another way to honor their pets, which can give them peace and comfort.

“Kahit papano may mga pamilya ’yung talagang sobrang mahal na nila yung aso nila. We can give them something that, alam mo yun, mas magiging magaan sa loob nila na kung paano sila magpapaalam sa mga alaga nila ng hindi lang nila itatapon,” she said.

Rainbow Bridge agreed that “presenting their pet’s remains in a beautiful set of memorabilia helps them feel the presence of their beloved pets still in their home.”

How it’s done, what memorabilia can be taken home

According to Rainbow Bridge, they fulfill the cremation process through a “smoke-free, high pressure water cremation.”

The ashes can then be returned to their owners “through presentable packages of urns, jewelry and other memorabilia that the family will opt to include as an add-on/upgrade.”

The cremation cost depends on the weight of the pet. They accept pets weighing below 1kg up to 25 kg and the price ranges from P4,000 to P9,500.

Inclusive of this package are basic wooden urn with photo frame, photo print with their pet's name, paw claybox, and lock of hair.

Pet owners also have the option to include additional memorabilia, such as pendants and steel capsules. They can also upgrade the urn to glazed china or ceramic line.

They can also get a biodome terrarium that consists of 4 types of plants that have soil with the pet’s remains or a bamboo urn in a hand-crafted acacia plant vessel.

Cosmopolitan, meanwhile, offers a standard price of P15,000 for cremation of all types of pets. The package doesn’t include an urn.

Their pet cremation package allows viewing before and after the cremation since they have their own chapel.

According to Cosmopolitan, they are working on fabricating caskets for pets.

However, if you want something more special, Cosmopolitan can also put pets’ ashes into gem-like containers which will be placed in a plaque. They also have the option to have it interred in their columbary.

Malabed said since bones don’t turn into ashes, they get a part of it and grind it. They will then get about 20 grams of it and bring it to Hong Kong where they will put the cremains inside a gem stone of your choice before it returns to the Philippines for display.

“Dinidikit yung gem stone [sa plaque] tapos may prayer or may picture tapos doon nilalagay sa columbary namin na may ilaw,” Malabed said.

This option is available for both pets and humans.

From a pet owner’s point of view

Michelle Ann Yu, who lost her two pets Kyupi and Sushi in June, chose to have both of them cremated at Pet to Nature Philippines, another pet crematorium offering a similar service.

She spent a little over P20,000 for two of her dogs for the cremation service and this is something she thinks is worth it.

Michelle, who is still heartbroken over her loss, said she decided to do this because she wanted to make her two dogs feel special during their final days on earth.

“Ayaw ko na parang libing lang deretso, na parang na-balewala na. Gusto ko keep ’yung urn nila para that way ma-feel ko din na nandiyan pa rin sila and binabantayn nila ako,” Michelle said.

Pet to Nature Philippines sent photos of the final viewing of her pets to Michelle since she couldn’t go to the wake because of the quarantine.

Michelle said she wanted to be able to say an honorable goodbye to her beloved pets—Sushi who had been with her for almost 16 years and Kyupi, eight—and to have something that will remind her of them and the memories they shared with her. – RC, GMA News