Latest growing fad in the US is funerals for pets.
By funerals, I mean embalming, coffins, flowers, casket viewings at a funeral home, and burial with hearse and funeral directors in attendance, if desired. One entrepreneur in the Mid-West is now in the process of setting up parlors as franchise opportunities.
And it's not just some pet lovers who've decided to make a business out of it. Regular funeral homes always looking for opportunities to wring a few more green backs from tears are getting into the business. Apparently, they've seen there's mega bucks to be made--the average pet funeral costs $500. So they've begun offering portions of their establishments to wake the deceased pet. It used to be done after hours, but irate pet owners stated it wasn't dignified and their pets were family members (latter part, I agree with) and deserved respect.
So, technically, a group of mourners can be at the funeral home sniffing and talking good or bad about Aunt Rosie and another group next door can be wailing about Clarence, the Great Dane. (One establishment has already performed the funeral of a beloved pack mule who took people on treks of the Grand Canyon.)
I'm sure there will come a day at one of these establishments when family members are sitting grieving in front of a closed casket for the entire visiting period, only to discover on the day of the funeral or later that their loved one is interred in a pet cemetery and the funeral Mass was for an old donkey.
Great plot line for Six Feet Under if it was still around.
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