Losing a beloved pet is an incredibly painful experience. When faced with saying goodbye, pet owners seek solace and dignified aftercare services to honor their companions. Final Gift Pet Memorial Center in Middleboro, Massachusetts, is positioned to provide this crucial service, yet a policy concerning communal cremations has caused significant distress and calls for immediate reconsideration. This open letter addresses Mr. Leon Hill and Ms. Marie Hill, owners of Final Gift Pet Memorial Center, to shed light on this pressing issue.
Recently, a pet owner, while navigating the emotional turmoil of euthanizing their cat, Hudson, inadvertently selected communal cremation on the paperwork. This was a mistake; the intention was for Hudson’s ashes to be returned home. Instead, they were informed that Hudson would undergo a “general cremation” with other animals, and the cremains would be scattered in the Rock Garden on the cemetery property. However, upon further inquiry with the Funeral Director, a deeply upsetting contradiction emerged. The Rock Garden scattering was misinformation. The reality, as conveyed, is that “the cremains of those pets communally cremated are interred very far back on our property and there is no public access to the exact location where they are buried.”
This revelation is profoundly unsettling. Final Gift Pet Memorial Center operates as a sanctuary for grieving pet owners. It is a place where families entrust their cherished animals for dignified final care, expecting a place of rest and remembrance. Your core function, your brand promise, is to provide a final resting place. Therefore, the policy of burying communal remains in an inaccessible, undisclosed location is fundamentally incongruent with the very essence of a pet memorial center. Why are these communal remains relegated to an area where those who loved these pets cannot visit? This practice undermines the purpose of your establishment and inflicts further pain on grieving pet parents seeking closure and a place to connect with their memory.
Adding to the distress, a review of the Final Gift Pet Memorial Center website reveals conflicting information, specifically within the FAQ section:
“Communal cremation—Your dearly departed pet is cremated in a group setting with other pets. The remains will not be returned to you, but rather the ashes will be scattered across the fields of our peaceful family farm.”
This statement starkly contrasts with the information provided by the Funeral Director regarding burial in an inaccessible area. Furthermore, Final Gift’s Code of Ethics pledges to “Not misrepresent their services nor conduct their business in a fraudulent manner.” The discrepancy between the website’s description of scattering ashes on a “peaceful family farm” and the reality of burial in an undisclosed, inaccessible location raises serious questions. Does this “peaceful family farm” truly exist? Is the website description misleading? Are the ashes of communally cremated pets respectfully scattered, or are they, as it feels, simply discarded in a remote, unvisitable part of the property?
The Mission Statement of Final Gift Pet Memorial Center, as stated on your website, further amplifies this dissonance:
“Founded on a sincere commitment to offer the same compassionate memorial pet care services we desired for our beloved family pet, Felicia, Final Gift Pet Memorial Center provides the most reputable and sensitive pet aftercare services available to the New England community of grieving pet parents. Whether you are the honored owner of a cherished dog, cat, exotic pet, goat, or large companion animal such as a horse, we can accommodate your every need.
From pet cremation to burial services, beautiful urns to lovely caskets, and supportive grieving tools, you can rest assured that your companion lies in the gentle hands of those who truly care. As a proud member of IAOPCC, we follow a strict, respectful code of ethics and always operate to the highest of industry standards. For further details on how we may be of service to you, please contact us today.”
The phrase “same compassionate memorial pet care services we desired for our beloved family pet” is particularly poignant. Would you have desired for Felicia to be laid to rest in a location inaccessible to you, a place where you could not visit to remember and honor her? Is relegating communally cremated pets to an unvisitable area truly the “most sensitive services available”? It feels deeply insensitive to treat these animals’ remains as if they are disposable, hidden away from the very people who cherished them. The promise to “accommodate your every need” rings hollow when met with repeated refusals and the stark reality of this inaccessible burial policy.
Numerous attempts to understand the reasoning behind this policy from Final Gift employees have yielded no satisfactory explanation, further fueling suspicion and disappointment. The communal nature of the cremation should not diminish the right to mourn and remember. While individual cremations offer personalized memorials, the essence of communal scattering, even in the Rock Garden example, is that over time, it naturally becomes a shared space of remembrance. Concerns about potential disturbance of remains should apply equally to all areas of the cemetery, yet public access is permitted to other sections.
The response, “Unfortunately the only option at this point is visiting the cemetery and knowing she is here with you. There is no public access to where we bury the cremains and we cannot scatter the cremains anywhere. I wish there was more we could do to help,” is insufficient and misses the core need of grieving pet owners. Visiting a cemetery with no specific place to connect with Hudson’s memory offers no comfort. The very purpose of a memorial center is to provide a tangible location for grief and remembrance. To deny this to those who chose communal cremation is a profound disconnect from the emotional needs of your clientele.
Final Gift Pet Memorial Center’s property, reportedly spanning three acres, surely has space to designate an area for the communal remains of beloved pets. Creating a dedicated, accessible space would align with your stated mission and provide immense comfort to pet owners seeking a place to honor their companions. Denying this basic need contradicts your business model and mission statement, adding unnecessary trauma to an already painful loss.
This policy change is not just a matter of logistics; it is about compassion, respect, and honoring the bond between humans and their animal companions. A social media campaign and petition are being initiated to advocate for this policy change. Providing a dedicated, visitable space for communal remains at Final Gift Pet Memorial Center is not only feasible but morally imperative. It is time to align your actions with your words and truly offer a final gift of peace and remembrance to all grieving pet owners, regardless of cremation choice.
