Pet owners offered bereavement care
New Zealanders’ love for their fur babies and their grief when they die is supporting a growing pet bereavement and cremation service.
Soul Friend already handles about 800 pet cremations for deceased pets from around the lower North Island every month.
And owner Simone Morrison has just been granted resource consent to develop the funeral home and cremation business in the Palmerston North village of Ashhurst.
The Mulgrave St property on the edge of the village was for 18 years used for boarding kennels and a cattery, a business Morrison decided to close permanently after Covid-19 lockdowns forced the decision.
The 4-hectare block will be developed to include a 500-square metre shed with space for a chapel or quiet room, three cremators with capacity for a fourth, workshops where urns and mementoes will be created and a memorial garden.
Morrison startedmoving into the pet cremation service about 12 years ago, collecting deceased animals from vet clinics as far away as Wellington, Wairarapa, Dannevirke, Hunterville and sometimes Whanganui.
With a staff of seven, the business has outgrown facilities at the Massey University campus where existing furnaces were available, and with a lease coming to an end in 2022.
She said New Zealanders were increasingly following overseas trends in treating their pets as members of the family and wanting to show them the same care and dignity after they died.
Morrison said it was noticeable that people had become even more attached to their animals during the stress of the pandemic.
‘‘The death of a pet leaves a big hole in someone’s life, and an empty food bowl, and not having the daily walk with the dog.
‘‘It’s quite hard to navigate that on your own.’’
As Soul Friend became more recognised, some of its customers started finding them independently if their pet had died at home or suddenly, such as in a road accident.
People were paying upwards of $200 for an average cat’s collection and cremation, and up to $600 for a large dog.
Then there was a range of add-on products, many crafted by customer service manager Damien Burns, including a range of ash urns, plaques, crystals and plaster paw prints.
He has made urns small enough for a mouse, or big enough for a horse.
Morrison said while the business had grown large, it was never impersonal. Every pet had a name, and staff used that name as they provided individual care.
Probably her most famous customer was the NZ Police, who entrusted her with the body of police dog Gazza, who was fatally shot in 2016.
Handler Josh Robertson and police colleagues honoured
Gazza at a memorial service, and he was then taken to Soul Friend where police who had been unable to attend were able to view him.
Morrison said she was excited and relieved to have received consent for the new place after an 18-month planning process. The new facility would see plenty of tears, but for a short time compared to the lifetime of love people had enjoyed with their pets.
‘‘To have appropriate memorials for their pets helps bring peace and closure.’’