THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611050135
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 87 lines
To many people, pets are an important part of life.
The unconditional love they provide is a source of comfort equal to none.
And, when they pass away, the grief is real and intense.
Knowing this, Neal Kellum, a local funeral home manager for 30 years, decided to take a service he has offered since 1987 a step farther.
By early December Kellum will open the doors to the first crematorium in the area built exclusively for animals.
Pet Cremation Services of Tidewater will be housed in a building currently under construction on the corner of Bonney Road and Happy Street.
``Basically this will offer more options for the family,'' said Kellum, 47. ``This will be a place where the family can come and say their goodbyes or maybe pet them one more time.'' The 2,000-square-foot building - made to resemble an inviting home with brick and vinyl siding and shuttered windows - will have a chapel, a room to house urns and memorials available for purchase, a processing area and a crematory. There will also be a drive-in bay so that the deceased can be transferred to the crematory in privacy.
The cost depends on the weight of the animal with prices ranging from $85 to $190. The price includes the transportation of the deceased as well as the delivery of the cremated remains. Families may bring in their deceased pets themselves, and they are welcome to stay as long as they need to to say goodbye.
The cost of cremation also includes a biodegradable urn. Bronze, pewter, wood and marble urns will be available for purchase. Kellum is contracting with another company to provide pet memorials or marble stones, to be placed in the yard or elsewhere. Some can even include a picture of the animal. Engraving will also be available. Urns will range in price from $65 to $135.
The whole cremation process can be done in a matter of hours and the remains are usually returned within two or three days, depending on whether the urn is being engraved. Each owner will also receive a certificate of the pet's death.
Cremation services can be prepaid and the company will accept personal checks and credit cards.
Kellum wants to make education a big part of the facility. He hopes to offer pamphlets and other information on death, some geared especially towards children.
``Education is the key here. Usually most people's experiences with death are with a pet first,'' said Kellum. ``If they never face that death they have a hard time handling it with the human side later on.''
Kellum said, the new $350,000 facility is the first of its kind in this area and will be an affiliate of Kellum Funeral Home just two blocks away on Bonney Road.
The crematory itself had to be specially ordered from a Florida company and should be arriving within the next two weeks.
Kellum is the business owner but Karen Kellum, his former wife, will be the one who runs the business. Ann Blanchard, a former police woman and bodyguard, is the assistant manager and also serves as driver.
Having pets cremated is not a new concept to the Kellums. In 1987, a veterinarian friend called to ask if they would cremate the pet of a local family. The Kellums agreed and had the animal cremated in a crematory housed in the funeral home on Bonney Road that hadn't been used for humans in years.
After doing the first pet, the Kellums were asked again and again to help grieving families by offering cremation as an alternative to having the pet taken and cremated by the city's Animal Control bureau.
Last year, 900 pets were cremated at the Bonney Road funeral home. This year, the number is expected to be around 1,100, said Kellum.
The Kellums have been asked to cremate a pet frog, pigs, a chicken, birds, snakes, dogs and cats. Neal Kellum himself has picked up deceased pets including five hunting dogs that had ingested antifreeze and a dog that died at its owner's door, blocking her exit. He's been asked to exhume a pet's body and have it cremated, and he's had requests to place the cremated remains of a pet in the owner's casket when the time came. MEMO: Pet Cremation Services of Tidewater can be reached at 340-0016.
In addition, the Garden of the Pines Pet Memorial offers full service
burialsfor all kinds of pets, from horses to birds. The prices range
from $270 for a small pet to $350 for a large pet and include a coffin,
a cement foot marker andperpetual care of the lot. The cemetery, at 2685
Salem Road, is open from dawn to dusk. The office is open from 8:30
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday,Friday and Saturday. The phone
number is 427-1537. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Neal Kellum, left, and Ann Blanchard show samples of urns used by
Pet Cremation Services. By early December, Kellum will open the
doors to the first crematorium in the area built exclusively for
animals. by CNB