Popularity of services set to soar

In the past decade, China's booming pet industry has seen a large number of related businesses spring up, providing a wide range of varied and specific services for owners, such as photography, boarding and restaurants catering to animals.

Professional pet funeral services are among the new entrants. They provide postmortem care for animals as owners are also willing to pay more to give their beloved pet a decent send-off.

Such facilities are plentiful in many Western countries, where the companionship of pets is common. However, in China, the number of families that keep pets is still rising.

According to a report released by iResearch Consulting Group in May last year, the number of pet dogs and cats in urban areas reached more than 100 million in 2020, a rise of 1.7 percent year-on-year.

The value of the domestic pet industry reached around 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) in 2020, and it will continue to grow over the next three years, with an average annual growth rate of 14.2 percent, the report said.

There are a couple of ways to dispose of animal remains in China. In rural areas, where more land is available, animals are either buried or they wander off to die alone. However, in the past, pet owners in urban areas often had to transport the bodies far to the outskirts, either for burial or cremation.

Wang Yinghao, a pet mortician in Beijing, said many pet owners reject the idea of burial, even if they have sufficient land. That's because they want to have the ashes around as a form of memento, and many are deeply concerned that burial is not eco-friendly.

The Animal Epidemic Prevention Law requires "harmless" disposal of sick and dead animals, so many cities offer subsidized services to deal with deceased pets.

For example, in Beijing, owners simply deliver the body to a designated point where it is collected by sanitation personnel. However, some owners find this method difficult to accept as they feel that it lacks emotional attachment.

In recent years, professional pet funeral homes have emerged in first-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

These homes ensure that pets leave the world with a clean body and allow the owners to say farewell properly. Services are customizable, with items and prices varying according to the owner's needs.

They also offer souvenirs, such as urns, memorial pendants, ashes diamonds and taxidermy services.