Fond Farewells

Qiu Hui

The Rainbow Planet，a specialized funeral home for companion animals located indowntown Beijing， is not always a gloomyplace and once in awhile welcomes some laughter.

A Chihuahua the size of twohuman hands was delivered inplastic bags to the facility around 10 o’clock in the morning. While watching its pure black hair getgroomed and nails cleaned up，the dog owner couldn’t help but recount memories of his 13 years with the dog. “I was so fortunate to have a pet as good as he was，” the owner smiled.

Yinghao， founder and funeral director of Rainbow Planet，acts as a steward in such scenes of sadness. His days involvepreparing the bodies of the dead animals and helping owners say goodbye to their pets.

Misunderstanding

Funeral service for pets isstill somewhat of a novelty inChina， and Rainbow Planet hasstories to tell in this respect.

“Not so many peoplerecognize this business，” saidhis landlord when Yinghaoapplied for rental space in 2021.The landlord also suggestednot labeling it a funeral parloron maps to avoid possiblecomplaints from neighborsbecause death is considered taboo in local culture.

Yinghao had dealt with such complaints before. When hefirst started offering servicein 2019， Rainbow Planetworked in an industrial parkfar from residences. Within ayear， however， they decided to move to a new location due tocomplaints from neighboringbusinesses about the wailingheard from the funeral parlor.

Many mistake Yinghao’sservice as animal cremation.Yet according to currentregulations， bodies of deadanimals must be cremated atdedicated sites that meet certain bio-safety standards. The owner of the current location of theRainbow Planet agreed to renthis property， an independentand easily accessiblecompound， to Yinghao onlywith a promise that the facilitywould not be used for cremation but only farewell ceremoniesand customer reception.

Situated in a courtyardwith white cobblestone paths，three separate service spacesare utilized for the farewellceremony， live streaming of the cremation， and ashes storage，respectively. Walls on both sides of the living room are adornedwith photos of the deceased and information about their names， age at death， and the owners’messages. Urns containing theashes and decorated with theirphotos are placed in the roomcalled the Hall of Peaceful Souls， where owners visit on specialdays with the animals’ favoritetoys and food.

Contrasting the heavy，gloomy atmosphere oftraditional funeral homes，Yinghao’s design for the layout and interior decoration of theRainbow Planet feels warm and peaceful.

“People who don’t havepets probably think whatwe’re doing is ridiculous，” saidYinghao. “Our service is inessence providing an emotional outlet for pet owners.” Forcurious potential customers， he is always happy to explain theunderlying philosophy of petfuneral service in detail.

Solemnity

Calls from clients roll inthroughout the day， so Yinghao and his three colleagues work in shifts.

Around three o’clock onemorning， a sobbing dog owner called to request transportation for a Doberman Pinscherjust declared dead. Yinghaoheaded out immediatelyafter answering the call. Forconvenience， his home is only a five-minute walk from theparlor.

According to standardprocedure， the pet morticianfirst cleans up the remainsof the animal. Equipped withgloves and skill， Yinghao tried his best to make the Doberman Pinscher look like it just fellasleep. After the dog wascleaned up， it was sent to thefarewell ceremony， where theanimal and its owner wereleft alone for a last farewell.In most cases， a mournful cryis heard as soon as the door isclosed. Yinghao still remembers a couple who spent the wholeafternoon with their pet dog inthe room， the longest farewellever made at Rainbow Planet.

After the farewell ceremony， a colleague took the remains of the Doberman Pinscher to theouter suburbs for cremation.When the dog was placed intothe incinerator， the ownerwatched live in another room at the funeral parlor.

Yinghao considers ownerssaying goodbye to theirdeceased pets a solemn process.

From body cleaning tofarewell ceremony andcremation， funeral servicesfor pets have some establishedprocedures， but RainbowPlanet distinguishes itselffrom competitors. Yinghaohad the idea of decorating theinterior of the two rooms forthe farewell ceremony in twodifferent styles： Western andOriental. Clean and bright， theWestern-style room has wallsprinted in beige and white anddecorated with dried flowersand white tassels. In the centerof the room are a white bed and a board to write the pet’s nameon. Oriental elements in theother room include Buddhistscriptures and the Dharani Sutra quilt， usually a cover for a coffin in funeral ceremonies， on a bed.

Tending to customers’emotional needs is also partof Yinghao’s job. If a pet ownercan’t stop weeping after thefarewell ceremony or seemsparticularly distraught， hehands over a tissue or carefullybegins a conversation aboutthe pet. “Sometimes ourconversation puts a smile backon the owner’s face，” Yinghaorevealed. “To a certain extent，pet morticians also play the role of a psychological counselor.”

The ability to comfort acustomer who has lost a petis particularly important fora funeral director， opinedYinghao. “Our service， to beprecise， is for pet owners， and it starts the moment they knockon the door of Rainbow Planet.”

An Emerging Industry

Born in 1996， Yinghaomajored in product design andgraduated from Beijing Forestry University. Before foundingRainbow Planet， he worked asa furniture designer in Ningbo.After two years， he grew tired of his routine job and wanted to try something different. The idea of working as a pet mortician wasinspired by reading an articleabout the great lengths one dogowner went through to say afinal farewell to his pet.

Visitors to Rainbow Planetare seniors or young singles and species vary widely from frogto lizard， snake， and goldfish.After two years in the business， Yinghao sees therelationship between owners and pets evolvingand the animals becoming more like family. Hewas particularly moved by a three-way videocall between an elderly lady whose pet died， herdaughter， who was in another city， and their petin the freezer. Before the cremation， the ladydelivered a monologue about her happy days with the pet while her daughter sobbed softly fromhundreds of miles away.

Yinghao also noticed that compared to 2019 when he was a newcomer to the niche business， funeralservice has gained increasing acceptance fromChinese customers. Last year alone， he organizedfarewell ceremonies for a total of 912 animals.

According to the 2020 White Paper on China’sPet Industry released on the specialized industryinformation platform qianzhan.com， 62.94 million Chinese people kept more than 100 million pets in 2020， and both numbers are still rising. The latest data showed that goldfish， turtles， hamsters， andparrots trailed cats and dogs as the most popularpets in China， and that pet pigs accounted for 2.3percent.

Many are now seeking a piece of the nichemarket. Statistics from business data providertianyancha.com revealed that nearly 2，200 petfuneral services are now operating in China， with more than 1，200 registered in 2020， the highestgrowth in history.

“Before opening Rainbow Planet， I wasn’t sure I could cope with weeping pet owners，” Yinghaoadmitted. “But after working as a pet mortician， Irealize that dealing with the death of companionanimals does not necessarily have to be a negative experience. I am always touched by stories of theowners and their pets.”

The stories are both with spoken and writtenwords. One snowy day， a young girl brought in adeceased ferret. “She was silent， all alone in her grief，” recalled Yinghao. “The girl spent long hours in thefarewell room and left without a word， which mademe feel suffocated， because it seemed I was unableto help her feel better.” His feelings of helplessnesspersisted until he saw an internet post by the girla few days later. She narrated how she and her petferret met and recounted their days from Anhui toJiangsu and Beijing. Most young people are not goodat voicing their inner feelings and find other means to get an emotional release， opined Yinghao.

“Death is an eternal topic for all species onEarth as is respect for life，” Yinghao added. “Petmorticians often get emotionally involved， andour care for the deceased， empathy for the owners， and respect for life are indispensable.”