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There’s more than one way to say your final goodbye to Fido or Whiskers at Tails Farewell in Toronto.

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Honouring the long-held belief that your pet is like a member of the family, Tails Farewell offers everything from water-based cremation to an actual funeral for your beloved fur baby — be it a dog, cat, hamster, guinea pig, gerbil, bunny, bird or anything, really, as long as it is of a certain size from small to extra large (the cost goes up the larger the animal).

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“We had someone bring in a rooster once,” said Tails Farewell business partner Jason Lau.

The Toronto location opened its doors in September following the opening of the original Markham space a year and a half ago by Tails Farewell founder-CEO Jing Huang.

The Markham space has served 700 pets so far.

Pet owners ‘grateful’ for farewell sessions

Lau said this kind of pet funeral home has become all the rage in his native Hong Kong over the last decade, but less so here.

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“Right now, the aftercare for pets in Hong Kong has been saturated,” said Lau. “Like, there’s a lot of places doing this. When I came to Canada … I did some research and, yeah, there was no one doing it. Usually people just went through the vets and in clinics and in hospitals. They just don’t have the resources and time to help people go through the difficult time. It’s usually a clinical setting.”

Lau said Tails Farewell offers three basic services starting with pet aquamation, which is a gentle process that uses water instead of fire.

“It’s actually more eco-friendly,” said Lau.

After that process, which starts at $249 for a communal aguamation for cats and dogs (with the ashes communally scattered afterward in the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough), there is also the remains or bones being dried and returned as ashes to the pet owner with a digital certificate and classic urn (starting at $399 for small pets and going up to $999 for extras like an ink paw print, a fur clipping in a glass bottle, the farewell session or funeral.)

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“We find that people are very grateful that this kind of stuff exists now,” said Lau, who owns four cats. “With the peaceful environment that we provide, they just find the closure that they need to say a proper goodbye. They treat their pets like humans, like a family member. I always tell people I have four kids at home.”

Tails Farewell basically does everything but the burials.

Funeral services available as well

A farewell session sees a room set up for people to say goodbye to their pet with flowers, favourite treats, toys, photos and the pet itself.

Tails Farewell also offers a funeral in which they can read a prepared eulogy and host a celebration of life gathering for the pet owners’ family and friends.

Another option is cremated jewelry mixed with the hair or fur of the pet along with watercolour portraits, oil paintings and a variety of urn options.

The most popular package at the Toronto location so far has been the Eternal Memory Package (starting at $549), said Lau.

“When I was a younger, I had a cat; she’d been there throughout my childhood,” he said. “So when she passed at 13, the aftercare sector for pets was not (great). So I couldn’t get any ashes. I couldn’t get the closure I needed. I didn’t get any keepsakes or a little farewell session as well. So there was always something missing in my heart.”

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