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Pet Bereavement / Pet Memorial News and Articles

Pet Bereavement Start Up Kits
We at Antal Products are excited about the launch of two new Pet Bereavement Start Up Kits with new lower prices. They are individually geared toward Pet Cremation and Pet Funeral needs.

The Pet Cremation Start Up Kit Includes:
• Our complete line of Pet Memorial Marker and Urns
• The Pet Memorial Set, in three different Pet Casket sizes.
   The Pet Memorial Set includes a biodegradable Pet Casket, Stainless Steel Grave Marker, Pet    Bereavement Certificite and Pet Loss Ceremony Booklet.
• Our Pet Keepsake Clip Strip, which includes 4 Paws, 4 Bone and 4 Fire Hydrant
   Pet Keepsakes

The Pet Funeral Start Up Kit Includes:
• All five sizes of our polyurethane Pet Caskets.
• The Pet Memorial Set, in three different Pet Casket sizes.
   The Pet Memorial Set includes a biodegradable Pet Casket, Stainless Steel Grave Marker, Pet    Bereavement Certificite and Pet Loss Ceremony Booklet.

Save 10% off original product prices for new distributors only. Call today to learn more about our Pet Bereavement Start Up Kits and all our pet bereavement products at 724-532-2890.

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Our monthly email newsletters offer the latest news in pet bereavement, veterinary and pet retail news. Also, sharing heartwarming pet loss stories from around the country.

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Trusts, wills safeguard pets when an owner dies.
By William Loeffler, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 13, 2012
Direct link to website article

She was known as the "Queen of Mean" for her bullying, skinflint ways, but hotel heiress Leona Helmsley wasn't stingy when it came to her dog.

When she died in 2007, Helmsley had created a $12 million trust for her pet Maltese, a female named Trouble. Although Trouble later had to settle for a measly $2 million, she still lived better than most people, spending her final years in Sarasota, Fla., with a security guard and a caretaker who reportedly spent $100,000 annually on her food, grooming and other essentials.

Call her eccentric, extravagant or three pups shy of a litter, Helmsley had the basic idea right, animal advocates say. We humans typically cherish our dogs, cats or birds as members of the family. But what becomes of Fido or Garfield should they outlive their owners? That's where a pet owner might consider providing for their them in their will.

" This has to do with responsible pet ownership," says Jolene Miklas, director of communications for Animal Friends. "Every pet owner, no matter their age or their health, should know what will happen to their pet if they're not able to take care of them."

Owners shouldn't assume that family members will adopt the pet in the event of their death, says Gretchen Fieser spokeswoman for the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. She says the deceased's relatives might not have the time or the money to care for the animal.

A 2010 survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association found that pet owners spent an average of more than $1,400 annually on a dog or cat. The survey, which polled 544 dog owners and 483 cat owners, included expenses such as routine and emergency veterinary visits, food, cages, shampoo, flea collars and vitamins.

" A lot of people do consider their pets like family," Fieser says. "To our grandparents, that would have been crazy. I hope it becomes even more common that people really think about their pets. ... Do the pets have medical needs of their own? Who's going to have financial responsibilities? We see it here, where a stressed family member comes in and says, 'My parent died, my aunt died and they have these pets and nobody can take care of them,' so they wind up in a shelter."

Fieser's sister, Martha DeLargy, recently included her miniature pinscher, Ya-Ya, in her will. A retired Air Force master sergeant, she grew up in Allison Park and now lives in Maryland, where she works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
DeLargy's will stipulates that her dog go to live with her sister, Fieser, should Delargy die first. She also left her sister money for the dog's care.

" I was actually getting ready to travel over to Thailand," DeLargy says. "I was making out a new will. Being in the military, they always stress keeping your family will up to date. In my line of work, I started thinking, 'What about the poor little dog if something happened to me?' I just asked my attorney to put him in the will and he did."
Legally, animals are considered property and cannot directly inherit money. Their owners can leave money in their will to a trusted friend or relative for the care of their pet and hope that their instructions are carried out.

" A pet can't spend money on their own," says Charlotte Lacroix, an attorney and veterinarian who founded Veterinary Business Advisors, a New Jersey consulting firm that advises veterinarians and attorneys nationwide. "If you want to have control of how the money is used you have to put it in a trust."

As of last year, 44 states had enacted pet trust laws. Pennsylvania law stipulates that a trust may be established by the owner while the animals are alive. The trust terminates on the death of the animal(s).

" The time to think of this is not when you're in hospice," says Bob Fragasso, CEO of Fragasso Financial Advisors, Downtown, and the owner of five dogs and four cats, all rescued. "The time to think of this is when you're healthy."
Dianne McGill is executive director of Ore.-based Banfield Charitable Trust. They are the charitable partner of Banfield Pet Hospital, a privately owned company that operates about 700 veterinary clinics inside PetSmart stores. They provided money and training for the Pet Peace of Mind program, a pet-care service for terminally ill patients that was launched in June by Family Hospice and Palliative Care in Mt. Lebanon.

" Very few people take the time to think through what will happen to their pets when the die," McGill says. "No one intends to leave a homeless pet, but it happens because pre-planning didn't take place."

Looking out for Fido
There are several ways to make sure your dog or cat isn't neglected should they outlive you.

• Make private arrangements with a friend or relative to care for your pet. This can be through a verbal agreement or a written contract. A pet owner can make a request in their will for a specific person to take care of their pet, and provide money to do so. But be sure they are trustworthy -- the instructions in a will cannot be enforced.

• Setting up a trust is the most reliable means of providing for your pet. It's also one of the most expensive. It can cost at least $2,500 to create the trust, and annual fees for IRS filings, says Bob Fragasso, CEO of Fragasso Financial Advisors, Downtown, and the owner of five dogs and four cats. "You could also allow for a trust to be created at your death, with the cost to be taken out of your estate," Fragasso says. "If you are creating a trust for your children, you can piggyback the animals into the agreement without paying an additional fee. It must be done at the time the original trust is created, however.

•Make arrangements through an intermediary organization. Animal Friends has a Lifesavers Society that provides for lifetime care for dogs, cats or domesticated bunnies after their owner dies. In a will, the owner bequeaths a minimum donation of $5,000 per animal. In return, Animal Friends places the animal with a good home. Should the new owner become unable to care for the pet, Animal Friends will place them with someone else.

Antal Products was recently featured in an article in Pet Age Magazine. Below is a
few excerts from the article.

Products to Memorialize Pets
By Lisa Plummer - Pet Age Magazine

It's an unavoidable fact of life: Pets don't live forever. For many people, losing an animal companion can be just as difficult as losing a human family member. So it's not surprising that many pet owners honor the passing of an animal companion with as much care and ritual as they would a human being.

Today, a wide variety of options let you offer your customers the memorial product that feels right to them. Yet many pet retailers make the mistake of ignoring this young and growing category, even though they commonly carry products for every other phase of a pet's life.

Caskets and Burial Attire
When his daughter's pet died, Edward Lamolinara, owner of Antal Products Inc. (Loyalhanna, PA.), didn't want to merely wrap it in a blanket, place it in a plastic bag and bury it, said Roxann Wingard, sales manager for the company. Instead, Lamolinara buried the animal in an antique chest that fit the pet. "That gave Ed the incentive to make our polyurethane pet caskets," said Wingard.

The Pet Casket mimics the look of a natural wood-grain coffin. Made of rigid polyurethane, it can withstand pressures exceeding 360 pounds per square inch and is airtight and water-resistant. Available in five sizes and three finishes, the casket comes with a built-in liner. An optional Deluxe Liner-a hand-sewn, lace-trimmed blanket and pillow made out of a fine crepe fabric-also is available from the company.

For owners on a tighter budget, Antal offers a double-walled and earth-friendly corrugated casket with decorated lid as part of its Pet Memorial Set. The set provides everything a person would need to perform their own memorial ceremony and burial ritual, including a bereavement certificate, a stainless steel grave marker and a ceremony booklet.

Antal Products also offers a Pet Bereavement Product Center, a convenient retail product display that includes the Memorial Set with three casket sizes and additional product options.

Keepsakes
For owners who want to carry the memory of their beloved pet with them wherever they go, Antal offers its new Pet Memorial Keepsake. Available in paw, bone and fire hydrant designs, the small 3-inch memontos are made out of stone-like resin and come with a clear plastic storage capsule for storing pet hair, baby teeth, a photograph or a small amount of cremains.

A Place for Memorials
To draw your customers' attention to memorial products, creat a tasteful memorial area or display that highlights a range of products. Keep a variety of catalogs at your counter for larger items that can be drop-shipped to your store, and/or allow customers to look through manufacturer Web sites while in your store.

Also, train your employees to understand the various products in your inventory and how to discuss them with customers in a thoughtful, compassionate way.

"Have your memorial products in one clean, bright location and be prepared to direct or escort your customers directly to them." said Popravsky. "A pet memorial area or display works best. Your customer is feeling badly, and you have a wonderful opportunity to help them feel much better by [helping them make] this purchase."

By carrying products that address the full cycle of life and let owners remember and honor the life of a cherished pet, you are providing an invaluable service that will help cement a long-term customer relationship.