[Explanation] At present, "sucking cats" and "pulling dogs" is becoming a new way of life for more and more families.

Pet-raising families regard pets as soul mates and family members, and invest a lot of money and time to make the pet economy develop rapidly.

Among them, pet "behind the scenes" - pet funerals are also quietly emerging.

During the Qingming Festival, in a pet hospice store in Changsha, Hunan, flowers were placed in the ashes storage room of each "hairy child", and new snacks and toys brought by their owners when they came to "visit" them.

　　The girl who is carefully arranging the "house" for the "hairy children" is Shi Hui, the pet mortician of the store. She studied medicine and started this job after graduation.

It is Shi Hui's daily work to carefully organize the pet's remains, let the owner and the pet spend a moment alone, and finally cremate the pet...

She told reporters that she bids farewell to hundreds of pets such as cats, dogs, hamsters, lizards, and hedgehogs every year, and that she can prepare a warm "farewell ceremony" for each deceased pet. She feels that her work is very meaningful.

　　[Concurrent] Shi Hui, a pet mortician

　　Because I think parting is really important.

The farewell ceremony is the last time they (the pet and the owner) have a good meeting, and the average owner will cry, because once the farewell ceremony is over, it will be sent to the cremation site for cremation.

At the beginning (in this profession), I would cry every time (the pet left), the parting is really in front of me, it is really a very uncomfortable thing.

　　[Explanation] Today, sending "family members" away in a decent manner has become the maintenance and satisfaction of pet owners' emotional connections and emotional memories of deceased pets.

For this reason, pet funeral related companies have shown explosive growth in recent years.

According to the "2021 China Pet Funeral Industry Analysis Report - Market Development Status and Future Prospects Research" released by Guanyan Report Network, as of 2020, there will be more than 1,400 new pet funeral related companies in China, a year-on-year increase of 510%, and more than in previous years. The sum of the related business increments.

　　Shi Hui told reporters that many of the pets who came to the store died unexpectedly or died at birth. Their owners really needed a "loving farewell" with the deceased pet to vent their emotions.

Since she started her career, she was most impressed by a "farewell" ceremony for a French fighting dog who died of illness in a Henan couple.

　　[Concurrent] Shi Hui, a pet mortician

　　(They) drove from Henan for more than ten hours.

Then when it comes to the farewell ceremony, it makes people feel very heavy.

The hostess kept repeating their address, saying "You must remember the way home.

　　[Explanation] Shi Hui introduced that in addition to a decent "farewell", pet owners often request the production of pet hair ornaments, photo frames, ornaments, ashes, plaster statues and other souvenirs.

On special days such as pet birthdays and Qingming Festival, they will bring snacks and toys to "visit" their pets and accompany them to talk.

　　However, despite the rapid development of the pet funeral industry, there are still no relevant normative laws and regulations, no industry standards, and opaque operations, which make this emerging industry "hanging in the air".

　　The Tiancong pet hospice store with stores covering many cities across the country has explored a successful path in the pet funeral industry.

Its pet morticians need to be trained, and each city's store has an independent crematorium, and has reached cooperation with many governments in the harmless treatment of animals.

Li Si, the owner of Tiancong Pet Hospice Changsha store, also called on relevant departments to manage the industry and bring pet funerals into the public eye.

　　[Concurrent] Li Si, a pet hospice practitioner

　　Like Britain and Japan, it (pet funeral) is actually a relatively mature industry.

But in domestic terms, in fact, if it rises, someone has been doing it ten years ago.

We also hope that such an industry can be standardized and normalized, so that everyone is no longer very shy about this matter.

　　Reported by Guan Ziwen and Tang Xiaoqing in Changsha

Responsible editor: [Li Ji]