The recent death of our beloved little Boston Terrier, Gromit, gave us the opportunity to experience pet cremation.  At first we wanted to bring her home and bury her in our back yard.  But as soon as our vet, Dr. Michael Marks, told us about the cremation service they offer, we were sold.  This was before we got her back and found out just how special she was treated.

Everyone dreads “picking up the ashes”.  As I already knew from previous human cremations, they aren’t really ashes at all – they are “cremains”, bits of bone and whatnot.  They sent Gromit out the day after her death (we put her to sleep in the late evening) and she was back the following day.

I called the vets office early afternoon to see if Gromie was back.  They assured me they would call as soon as she arrived.  Forty-five minutes later they called to let me know she was there.  I told my husband and son that I was going to pick up our girl.

When I arrived, I was already crying pretty well.  When I saw the presentation, I totally lost it.  She was in a pretty little cedar box with lock and keys, her name was on top, a paw print ribbon was tied to the hasp, the box was in a “doggie bag”, a small plastic shopping bag with paw prints all over.  There was a certificate of cremation from the crematorium, Lasting Paws, and a bookmark with a little silver heart that read “love”.

 I cried the whole way home, comforted that she was sitting beside me in the seat.  Once home, I opened her little box and there was a gold bag, tied, that smelled wonderful, and the box was lined with paw print paper.

I placed our Boston Terrier statue, Gromie’s cremains box and the scrapcard I created with favorite photos to remind me of her on the counter between our kitchen and living room.  She will get a permanent place of honor soon on top of an antique cabinet.

Our experience of the death of our much loved pet was awful, but the people involved from our vet, the emergency vet and the crematory made an incredible difference.  You could tell they each loved animals as much as we did and they honored her life in death.

Would your funeral home cause folks to rave about how great you are?  I can’t bring Gromit back but I’ve already told a dozen people about our experience.  Even those that also had a pet cremated have been shocked at how different their pet was presented to them.

And on that certificate that shows when Gromit Richter was cremated is something very special – her actual paw print.

The crematory that handled these arrangements has a website at www.lastingpaws.com.

We were served by Dr. Michael Marks and Dr. Steven Lewis, May Animal Hospital, Plant City, Florida and the Animal Emergency Clinic of Brandon in Brandon, Florida.

Robin Richter is a Human Resources Expert and an avid motorcycle enthusiast. 
The owner of several Boston Terriers, Robin is also a “rabid” fan of the breed.  
As a Creative Memories Consultant, she helps preserve memories through scrapbooking.  Visit her Creative Memories website to see how this “Queen of the Scrappers” can help you.