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Pet Funeral Home Caters To Bereaved Owners
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Published: May 16, 2008
PINELLAS PARK - Coleen Ellis got into the pet funeral service business after the death of her terrier-schnauzer five years ago.
She wanted an alternative to cremation or burial, but could not find a way to give Mico a proper goodbye.
"I wanted her little body to be treated with dignity and respect," recalled Ellis, who previously worked in human funeral homes. "And I as a pet parent wanted to be treated like I had lost a family member."
A year later, Ellis started the country's first pet funeral home. Located in the Indianapolis area, it provides pets with the same quality of after-care that is offered to humans, she said.
This afternoon, she is opening her third Pet Angel Memorial Center, in a former funeral parlor in Pinellas Park. Mayor Bill Mischler will be on hand to dedicate what is being called Florida's first full-service pet funeral home. The business occupies what once was Reflections Funeral Home, 6225 72nd Avenue.
An open house is set for this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Need a minister at your pet's funeral? Ellis can arrange it. Want a procession for the burial? No problem. How about a paw or snout print to remember that dog or cat? She can do that, too.
She can also give you a shoulder to cry on.
"We consider ourselves the Nordstrom's of the pet death care world in the fact that we provide all services," Ellis said. "And we provide them in the same manner and in the same process as it would happen on the human side."
Her flagship center in Carmel, Ind., offers a full line of caskets, urns and memorial items and sees about 100 families a month, Ellis said.
The after-care concept for pets has caught on so much that Ellis has begun franchising the business nationwide. She plans to open 250 to 300 locations in the next six to seven years.
"Right now, a lot of people go, "I'm not having a funeral for my dog because everyone will look at me like I'm weird," " she said. "But there will be a time when people say, "I don't care if people look at me, I want a funeral for my dog.' "
Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.
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