Pets at Peace provides services for pets and owners

Julie Proulx, a graduate of Nipissing University with a BA in Psychology, who later studied funeral service education at Humber College and evolved into a funeral director for pets spoke to us this month on this topic..

Julie, who at one point returned to Humber to teach the Funeral Service Education program between stints at funeral homes in St. Catharines and Port Colborne, was drawn to the service for pets and their owners by her own experiences with pets.

She said that she was unable to be around when she lost her first two dogs but when her third dog developed congestive heart disease and had to be euthanized she felt blessed to be able to be there at that difficult time.

After much discussion and contemplation, she responded to an ad looking for the right person to open a second location of Pets at Peace. She felt the reasons for opening the service, located on Lake Street in St. Catharines, were confirmed when her next dog died at age 14.

Julie pointed out that the services provided by Pets at Peace begin after death has occurred. However, she has connections with a mobile vet who will come to the home to euthanize if the pet owners don’t have a vet or can’t transport their pet.

Private cremation is arranged and the owners are guaranteed that only their pet’s cremated re-mains are returned in a choice of one of four urns. A cremation certificate and an online memorial are included and the pets are returned to their families within three to five days.

Julie said that part of her service is also helping families deal with the loss of a pet. She said some-times the loss of a pet can hit people harder than the loss of a relative and that many people feel guilty about the deep grief over the loss of a pet.

The emotions involved in the loss of a pet were evident from the many questions and comments shared by the audience.