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Goodbye, Best Friends

Robert Burke photo

Sherry Mulcrone of Bradenton visits her pets' graves at Companions Memorial Pet Cemetery.

By MICHELLE BEARDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

Eulogy For A Big Red Mutt

Share Your Pet Stories And Photos

Hillsborough Animal Health Foundation

Honor Thy Pet Cremation Services

For Sherry Mulcrone, it's two little plots on shady country acreage in Palmetto.

Rich Cupo has urns — lots of them — in a room in his house in Keysville.

For others, it could be an online photo gallery, an old, worn collar in a display case or a garden statue resembling the deceased.

But one thing pet lovers have in common: More and more, we want to memorialize our departed furry loved ones so they are not forgotten.

"Some people thought I was a little off, but I didn't care," says Mulcrone, a Bradenton woman who purchased burial plots, caskets and granite markers for her West Highland white terriers, Rufus and Gismo. They're interred at Companions Memorial Park, a pet cemetery in Palmetto.

She estimates she spent about $2,500 to ensure her Westies — 15-year-old Rufus died in 2002, 17-year-old Gismo two years later — would have a peaceful resting place. It also gives her a place to visit them several times a year and decorate their graves with artificial flowers. She feels their spirit whenever she comes here to reflect.

The cost is a pittance compared to what they gave her in life, she says.

"I did for them what I would do for any family member," Mulcrone says. "They were my family."

Today, The Tampa Tribune launches its Pet Tributes feature. The newspaper joins a growing number of publications offering readers the opportunity to publicly recognize their animal loved ones, either in print or online. The memoriams will runs Saturdays in this section and will include large and small ads, with or without photos, ranging from $60 to $75.

Alisa Griffin, special announcement coordinator, notes that pets play an integral role in many people's lives.

"Losing them is devastating," she says. "By acknowledging the contribution they have made to our lives and by expressing our thoughts and feelings about our pets after they have gone, we can ensure their memory will live on and, perhaps, help ourselves to heal a little."

Online Place For Tributes

America's love affair with pets just keeps growing. Pet ownership has increased 66 percent in the past 15 years, according to Gadzoo.com, a Web site dedicated to pets. At $40.8 billion a year, spending in the pet industry has far surpassed the children's $22 billion toy market.

When the relationship finally ends, it's important to many owners that they provide a fitting sendoff. That's why Gadzoo includes a section where clients can post memorial tributes.

"It's a way to create a final memory," says Kym Nelson, a sales manager for the Evanston, Ill., company. "We also give people a place where they can feel a sense of community. Support makes all the difference in getting through this."

For more and more owners, memories are not enough.

Pets Are Always With Him

Burying his dogs after they died was certainly an option for Cupo, who owns 10 acres of land. But the possibility that he might move one day and leave his pets behind quashed the notion. He chooses cremation, with the remains stored in photo-box urns. If he goes, they go with him.

He estimates he has about 15 containers. In the past few months, he has added three to the collection: Duran in June, Bruiser in July and Crusher in September. All from the same litter, they were 13 years old.

The heartache isn't over. Oreo and Gator, also from that same litter, are suffering from health problems. Cupo is dreading the inevitable.

"I don't know what I was thinking, to take in so many dogs at the same age," he says. "This is what it comes to, and it's so hard. At least I have their remains, and a part of them stays with me always."

Carmen Yebba worked in the funeral home industry for nearly 25 years, helping humans navigate the emotional journey of saying goodbye to loved ones. When he retired four years ago, he started Honor Thy Pet, a cremation service in Tampa.

Yebba models the family-owned business after a funeral home, serving clients 365 days, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. He makes house calls to pick up deceased pets, counsels grieving owners and builds relationships with clients, many of whom return. His company also offers a wide variety of containers and memorial products.

Cost of cremation runs by weight — for example, a 50-pound dog runs $145 — and includes an urn. Ninety-eight percent of the business's clients opt for cremation; the remainder choose burial at the Palmetto pet cemetery, which Honor Thy Pet bought a year ago.

People's Grief 'Not Abnormal'

"When people tell me they feel silly about feeling so bad, I tell them they're not abnormal," says Yebba, whose household includes four Chihuahuas and a poodle. "We understand this is the loss of a family member. We guide them through the process of closure, and we try to help them stay focused on the positive memories."

Although the bulk of the business is dogs, the Yebbas have dealt with pet chameleons, tortoises and potbellied pigs. He even guided a family through the death of its rat.

"Everyone gets the same treatment," he says. That includes clients who have requested that buried remains be exhumed and cremated.

Yebba doesn't consider his work any less important than his previous life as a funeral director. The heartache and raw grief that come with the death of a pet can be overwhelming, he says.

"We're here to help them through this, and understand it will get better in time."

Honor Thy Pet recently helped Joe Tharp of Riverview through the grief of three losses over two months. Eleven-year-old Vegas, a Doberman, and 11-year-old Daphne, a Corgi, died of cancer. Nine-year-old Glory, another Doberman, died of a heart attack after a pool therapy session for her arthritis.

He appreciates how quickly Yebba responded to his call one evening after one of the Dobies died. "He was here in 45 minutes," Tharp says. "I appreciate how he takes a difficult experience and makes it as positive as he can."

Both raised Catholic, the Tharps feel cremation is the right way to go.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Joe says. "It seems like the proper thing."

Michelle Bearden can be reached at mbearden@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7613.