"Doing funeral services for pets is just a waste of money!" Pet funeral director: I don't get angry when I see this kind of comment.

Ask AI · How can a pet funeral director relieve a pet owner’s pain of parting through professional services?

With the continued boom of the pet economy, pets have long become an indispensable part of many households, and the pet burial industry—carrying both remembrance and farewell—has also emerged. Pet funeral director Mr. Jiang posted on Tencent Hot Questions, sharing the story behind the industry, and the “special farewell” he witnessed between owners and their pets.

Rapid growth of pet funeral enterprises

With the prosperity and development of the pet economy, pet funeral services have also begun to flourish. According to Qichacha data, as of the end of March 2026, there are 47k pet funeral-related enterprises currently existing in China. In terms of regional distribution, North China has the most, accounting for 28.3%, followed by East China, accounting for 25.9%.

In terms of registrations, according to Qichacha data, in 2022, the number of registrations of pet funeral-related enterprises in China was nearly 6 times that of the same period in 2021, reaching 27k, becoming one of the two peak periods in both the number of registrations and the growth rate over the past decade. In 2025, there were 8,534 registrations of pet funeral-related enterprises for the full year, up 3.4% year over year. Among them, East China had the highest number of related enterprise registrations in 2025, accounting for 26.6%, followed by Northwest China, accounting for 23.6%. As of the end of March 2026, China has already registered 1,696 pet funeral-related enterprises.

Mr. Jiang in Shenyang told reporters that he used to work on car customization. He had once owned a small dog that died unexpectedly in a car accident, and he couldn’t give it a proper farewell, which left him feeling guilty. Later, after learning about the pet funeral industry, starting in 2021 he became a pet funeral director.

Mr. Jiang said that this industry is a bit different from others. Although he entered the field because he liked small animals, he had previously rarely seen small animals that had died. After they pass away, they may have issues such as waste discharge and bleeding from the mouth and nose; he has to overcome his own physiological reactions.

Also, at the beginning, when he saw clients saying goodbye to their pets, it was too heartbreaking, and he would grieve along with them and cry. Later, as he did the job for longer, he felt he shouldn’t empathize like that anymore. “Because our most important thing is to provide good service to the client—to take care of the pet owner’s emotions—so that the ‘fur kid’ can leave more properly. So I try to control myself. The longer you do this work, the better you get.”

Give a pet a solemn farewell

Mr. Jiang has set up a solemn process for pet funerals. “Our process was created by us. Over the years, through exploration, and by combining it with the way clients feel about their ‘precious ones,’ we have gradually innovated. Our current process mainly includes receiving them, then placing the pet in the farewell hall for cleaning. Then the owner performs a farewell ceremony. We also let the owner write a letter to the pet and keep the pet’s paw prints, fur, and other items as keepsakes, and so on.” After pet cremation, some clients keep the urn at home, some bury it, and some place it in the storage hall of the pet funeral shop. On occasions such as Qingming Festival, they will come to visit.

Mr. Jiang said that while pet funerals mostly involve dogs and cats, he also often encounters unusual pets such as hamsters, parrots, and even small pigs. Recently, an aunt asked Mr. Jiang to handle the aftercare for a small pig she had raised for 14 years. The aunt told him the pig was as smart as a dog, and their bond with the owner was very deep. They cleaned up the pig and gave it a proper farewell, which comforted the aunt.

A child bought a small hamster and, unfortunately, it died a month later. The child’s mother understood the child’s feelings, so she took the child to Mr. Jiang’s shop to give the little hamster a solemn goodbye. This helped the child find comfort, learn how to cope with parting, and establish the right values.

He once met an aunt who lived alone. She originally had a small dog that her younger brother had given her for companionship. She treated the dog as her emotional support, eating together every day and taking walks together, never leaving it behind. After the dog died, the aunt found Mr. Jiang through a friend to handle the aftercare. “When I met her, I felt her mental state was somewhat depressed. Before she left, she told me, ‘When this dog is gone, I don’t want to live either.’ After hearing that and seeing her condition, I didn’t feel like she was just saying it. So I asked her brother’s friend to contact her family. Later, her younger brother stayed with her for a while, and her condition improved a lot. Her younger brother even sent us a thank-you letter.”

Mr. Jiang has encountered many clients like this. Some have children not nearby, some lost their spouse early, and they don’t have many friends—so they raise a pet as their emotional support, and the bond is very deep. When a pet is gone, they want to give it a solemn farewell. Now, his single shop receives about one to two hundred orders each month.

Pet owners should understand relevant health and safety knowledge

Because of his profession, Mr. Jiang has also learned a lot about why pets pass away. “Taking small dogs as an example, we receive many cases of female dogs with pyometra. The causes are usually that they weren’t spayed and haven’t had one or two litters. As time goes on, inflammation appears, and it gets worse and worse, eventually developing into pyometra, with a very low chance of recovery. Male dogs more often develop tumors. For cats, common illnesses are kidney failure and heart disease. Some owners don’t realize pets can get these diseases. And because pets have strong tolerance, there may not be obvious symptoms at the beginning. By the time the condition develops to the point where it becomes unbearable, going to the hospital is already too late.”

Accidents also happen often—for example, when taking a dog out for a walk. After going outside, a dog may become more excited than at home, and its condition is different. If you don’t leash it and take precautions, accidents are all too likely. During the Spring Festival, it’s also common for cats to die from stress reactions caused by fireworks and firecrackers.

Mr. Jiang reminds that pet owners should learn relevant health and safety knowledge. “For example, talk to doctors more, or look things up online to understand what diseases they might encounter. Don’t let pets become overly obese, because obesity can lead to heart disease. For breeds like Golden Retrievers, the likelihood of developing illness is higher after age 5, so it’s recommended to get a checkup once a year. Try not to let pets eat human food, because the oil and salt in human food may not be suitable for them. When taking a dog out, be sure to leash it to prevent accidents.”

Mr. Jiang said that the deepest feeling this profession gives him is the bond between humans and pets: “Because pets may only accompany one owner for their whole life. In their eyes, we are the only one. Our industry is simple; the technical requirements aren’t that high. As long as you serve customers with care and study the business process, customers generally won’t be dissatisfied. Don’t make money your only purpose; put the customer’s feelings at the core.”

Although more and more people now recognize pet funeral services, there are also many different voices. For example, some people say that spending so much money on pet funerals is nothing but a waste. Mr. Jiang said, “When I see comments like that, honestly, I’m not angry at all. Many people don’t mean it maliciously—they simply haven’t owned pets, haven’t experienced the pain of parting, so they don’t understand. Pets spend their whole lives accompanying us. When they leave, if it’s more proper and a bit quieter, that’s not a waste—it’s peace of mind, it’s a farewell.”

Yangtze Evening News / Ziniu News reporter Song Shifeng

Editing Song Shifeng