By STEVE SCHULWITZ
News Staff Writer
People often think of their pet as part of the family. They take them on vacations, feed them table food and sometimes dress them in pet garb.
When a pet passes, or needs to be euthenized, the owners grieve much the same way they would as if losing a human loved-one.
Many times, people, especially the elderly, don't know what to do when their faithful companion dies. Things such as finding a place to bury or cremate it becomes a disheartening chore.
Thirty years ago Wayne and Karen McWilliams considered handling those problems for pet-parents who had lost their pets.
"We were living in California and we saw a pet cemetery and we kind of gave it some thought then," Karen McWilliams said. "Now we have the means to do it and there is demand for it."
The couple opened Pets@Peace Memorial Center in conjunction with McWilliams Funeral Home to provide grieving owners assistance in dealing with their loss and aiding with pet-death care.
The McWilliamses will pick up your pet at home or at the vet, wrap it in a blanket and transport it in a special basket. The procedure is handled with dignity and respect for the pet and for the pet's family.
"We will handle all the arrangements and do whatever the owners want," Wayne McWilliams said. "We groom the animal up some, clip some fur to make a memorial for the owner. We will do anything requested of us."
The McWilliamses are looking into purchasing property for a pet cemetery and are in the pet funeral business for the long haul.
"It is going to be a definite commitment you have to follow through," Wayne McWilliams said. " Especially the cemetery part of it, because that is a permanent installation."
Karen noticed at this year's business expo there is a demand for the service and calls asking for information are coming in more frequently.
"We had people at the booth the entire time and I was the only one working it," she said. " I am getting more and more calls asking about it and planning for the future."
If requested, one can have a service for the deceased pet and friends and loved ones attend, even animal friends.
"An animal has a way of cheering people up," Karen MacWilliams said. "I have seen people who are too upset to talk and a dog comes up and before you know it they are petting it and opening up."
The list of services offered can be as simple or as elegant as one sees fit.
"We can get animal coffins, we can have a service and we can print up memorial cards with pictures," Wayne McWilliams said. "We won't have any open coffin funerals, but we will hold a memorial if requested. There are people who spend more for their pet's funeral than a family member."
The animals will be cremated in a special retort, by itself.
"I want people to understand no animal will be cremated with humans, or in a retort used for human cremation," he said. "Some places cremate co-mingled, but we will only do one at a time and you only get the ashes of your pet."
Once land is bought for the cemetery Pets@Peace probably will do more burial, but cremations are the more environmentally safe way as of now.
"A lot of what we're doing right now is geared at cremation," Wayne McWilliams said. "We will assist in burial options until the pet cemetery is acquired."
A business such as Pets@Peace is sure to receive its share of chuckles and maybe some who disapprove of the practice, but the McWilliamses haven't heard anything negative thus far.
"I'm sure some people will be put off by it," Wayne McWilliams said. "However, I think the majority of people know we are just offering a service for people who want it."
Steve Schulwitz can be reached via e-mail at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689.