{"id":51,"date":"2009-10-29T18:07:31","date_gmt":"2009-10-29T18:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jacobski.com\/written\/?p=45"},"modified":"2013-03-04T20:49:21","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T02:49:21","slug":"when-pets-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jacobski.com\/home\/when-pets-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"When Pets Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PetDeath\"<\/a> \"PetDeath_Cover\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is an unassuming-looking place in an unassuming neighborhood\u2014Norplex Drive, itself, looks like a kind of a graveyard for La Crosse\u2019s aging industries. Perhaps unassuming is exactly what one needs when arranging the cremation of a beloved friend.<\/p>\n

Within these taupe-hued walls are the offices of Companions Always, a pet cremation service that has opened its doors in La Crosse. In an industrial-looking room lies a highly efficient cremation machine, the same model from Matthews Cremation Division (no relation to the Matthew\u2019s Bow Company) that can be used for human corpses. The cremation oven is a surprisingly beautiful piece of equipment, with a corrugated chrome exterior that creates clean lines and a bright sheen on a box no larger than a small moving trailer. The control panel is simple, amounting to little more than a few timers and switches—the $65,000+ machine is clearly designed to serve one, albeit macabre, purpose.<\/p>\n

The process of cremating an animal is as clean and professional as that machine. If possible, the staff takes an inking of the paw or hoofs and salvage personal items at the owner\u2019s request. The animal is identified and separated from others in preparation for the burn. Afterwards, the individual remains are carefully processed and placed in an oak box or one of many other elaborate options. Staff will even hand deliver the final remains, considering it somewhat tasteless to deliver such an emotional package via traditional parcel services.<\/p>\n

In front of the machines, oak urns, death certificates and a van that covers cities as far away as Mauston, are the faces of people who daily share strangers\u2019 most difficult burden. \u201cPeople view pets differently today than they did when I was growing up,\u201d says Don Jobe, owner and operator of Companions Always.<\/p>\n

Debbie Braund, who handles Companions Always\u2019 daily operations, agrees, \u201cPets are even more important to people these days,\u201d she posits, \u201cbecause there so much non-human contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up until roughly 18 months ago, owners of deceased pets in the La Crosse area had few options for sanitary disposal, much less dignified burial. A common option for many is to bury the deceased. The Walnut Grove Pet Cemetery—owned by Edward\u2019s Investments\u2014provides one option, but the property sits just outside of Holmen off Highway TT, an inconvenient distance for many of the bereaved. Even Dennis Knight, DVM for Coulee Mobile Vet had to rely on a bi-weekly pickup from a crematorium out of Poynette. For many, this lack of services left a variety of less-than-sanitary options, particularly when the owner has a close connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally [when] people call me, they\u2019re in tears,\u201d says Braund, \u201cI\u2019ll be saying \u2018take you time, catch your breath, when you\u2019re ready to talk, I\u2019m right here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though such lamentation from pet owners may seem unfounded, there is a growing concern nationwide for the grief experienced by those who have lost their furry (or feathered) companion. Dr. Shawn P Messonnier is a veterinarian and columnist for The Dallas Morning News, and in a column dated May 1st of 2002 he responded to a grieving man. The gentleman was deeply hurt following the euthanizing of his dog and friends felt he was overacting to the death. \u201cAs someone who has seen several of his own pets die, I know the grief you feel is very real,\u201d write Messonnier, \u201cyou should know that your emotions are a normal part of the five stages of grieving.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems to be this closeness to death, rather than a cold, professional disassociation from it that enables people to work in this field. Braund, for example, says she has \u201chad to use [the] burner twice\u2026\u201d in the short time Companions Always has been operating\u2014once for a dog who died of old age and again for a dog who died young. Knight, as a veterinarian, expresses a dichotomy in dealing with the passing of other peoples\u2019 pets. \u201cOf course, I try to contain my emotions so I can provide a service at a professional capacity,\u201d say Knight, \u201chowever, there are times when it is quite challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see it throughout the offices at Companions, little pieces of the times when staff have had the business of death come dangerously close to their own hearts. At every turn, beautiful photographs of dogs and cats\u2014often pictured with their loved ones\u2014hang on the walls. It might seem eerie if staff wasn\u2019t so optimistic.<\/p>\n

The business\u2014or rather the service\u2014of a dignified death is as diverse in the world of animals as it is in the human world; perhaps even more so. Arrangements have been made for animal ashes to be buried along with their human counterpart, or for ashes to be divided among multiple urns, a piece of the mortal remains given separate family members. The option is also available for the remains to be compressed into a stone, cut, polished and made into jewelry though, Jobe notes, none of their clients has yet requested it.<\/p>\n

It seems strange to define a business under such auspices. Jobe, as a former executive of AlliedSignal (merged into Honeywell International Inc. in 1999) and Isola Laminate Systems, clearly brings a keen knowledge of operating a successful business. Yet the \u201cproduct\u201d seems to go far beyond anything tangible\u2014urns, caskets, certificates and transportation seem to be auxiliary functions of an emotional product. There is a service to be offered\u2014not in the operation of a cremation machine\u2014but in comfort and closure. \u201cIt\u2019s a business that is good for the community and and family,\u201d says Braund, \u201cbut it\u2019s a business that I think is\u2026awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

It begs the question: how does dealing with all this death and the surrounding emotions affect one\u2019s outlook on life? Jobe admits to having not had a pet for quite some time but notes that his son\u2014a licensed mortician\u2014currently owns a pet. \u201cI think it\u2019s given [me] a lot more compassionate conception [sic],\u201d says Jobe \u201cit goes beyond just being a dog or being a cat\u2026it\u2019s somebody\u2019s loved one and you want to care for it as such.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though one never likes to imagine having to use such a service for their own pet, it\u2019s good to know that the inevitability will be met with a comforting hug and a healthy dose of sympathy. Says Braund, \u201cWhenever we see people we say, \u2018it\u2019s a pleasure meeting you and, as much as we\u2019d like to see you again, hopefully we don\u2019t see you for a very long time\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is an unassuming-looking place in an unassuming neighborhood\u2014Norplex Drive, itself, looks like a kind of a graveyard for La Crosse\u2019s aging industries. 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