Building a Stairway to Paradise, for Your Beloved Pet

The sky can be the limit when it comes to options for owners who want to give pets a proper send-off. There are more than 1,000 pet cemeteries across the United States, and many provide most everything from funeral services and customized burial sites to cremations and bereavement counseling. They also offer an array of items like urns, coffins, vaults and grave markers.

“We’ve always had strong affection for our pets, but in the past five to seven years marketers have really picked up on this,” said David Lummis, lead pet market analyst at Packaged Facts, a market research publisher based in New York. “They’ve taken the ball and run with it. What we’re seeing now — in all these humanized products, many of which have premium prices — is the sanctioning of treating pets like family.”

In 2005, revenue in the pet care service industry reached $18.2 billion (of which $13.2 billion was for veterinarian services alone) and is predicted to reach $25.3 billion by 2010, according to a report by Mr. Lummis.