Families Facing Cremation of their Beloved Pet at Regency Forest Pet Memorial Cemetary, Long Island.
10 Apr 2010 1 Comment
in Animals Tags: Brian Muhammad, Chinchillas, Cremation of pets, Jillian Ramrattan, Micheline Maroni, Middle Island, Pet owners, Rainbow Bridge, Ray Ottoson, Regency Forest
A young man dressed in a red flannel shirt, black jeans and a blue baseball cap sits in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota RAV 4. His face shows no expression, but his eyes are filling with tears. A slightly older woman in the backseat holds a bloated, grey chinchilla against her heart.
The small, 7-year-old South American rodent died two days ago. Owners Jillian Ramrattan and her cousin, Brian Muhammad, who live together, wrapped Minnie the chinchilla in a blanket and placed her in their freezer to keep the body cold through the weekend.
It’s early Monday morning and they’ve driven 30 miles east from Queens to Middle Island to the Regency Forest Pet Memorial Cemetery where Jillian and Brian now wait in their SUV for Minnie’s funeral service. They’ve been here before. Just a year ago Minnie’s brother, Mickey, died.
In a few minutes Minnie will be cremated, but not before having a private viewing. Jillian and Brian will be the only two in attendance.
“In less than eight hours, she went from running around to having to be put to sleep,” says Jillian looking down at her pet who was now thawing.
Minnie’s ashes will be placed in a decorative container, put in a green paper bag with a copy of the poem, “The Rainbow Bridge” and a Certificate of Individual Cremation. The poem reads, “All the animals who had been ill or old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made strong and whole again.”
Since 1992, Regency has offered grieving pet owners like Jillian and Brian alternatives for their furry friends when they die.
One option is a private cremation. This means that a pet will be cremated separate from other pets. While waiting, owners can choose from 55 urns which are displayed in the waiting room of the main office. They’re made of different types of wood and ceramic, metal and brass, bronze and pewter, marble and granite. Few grieving owners choose the stock urn.
If pet owners don’t want to showcase an urn on their living room mantle or bury the urn at home, they can bury it at Regency’s “Gardens of Cremains.”
Some choose to have their pet cremated with others and the “cremains” buried at Regency’s “Field of Dreams.” This is a communal cremation and it’s the less expensive preference.
The “Field of Dreams” and “Gardens of Cremains” are two of many landscaped sections of the well-maintained 29-acre cemetery.
The entrance into the cemetery takes you through tall, iron gates off of Middle Country Road. Low, white picket fences are on each side of the narrow pathway, dividing it from the freshly cut grass. The main office is further down from the entrance and on the right. The funeral home, which seats more than 12, is on the left.
The pleasant sound of a fountain trickling into a pond can be heard nearby. Deer sometimes drink from the pond and graze in the field. The gravesites are visible beyond the pond and are often marked by hedges. Scattered red azaleas and wooden benches complete the tranquil scene.
Other sections include the “Horse Corral,” a full-body burial for the equestrienne family, “Feathered Friends” for birds, and “Kitty Korner” for felines. Several designated areas are for dogs, for man’s best friend.
Urns and caskets fill the ground beneath these sections.
Several types of caskets are also available. The double-wall casket features a rich almond-colored exterior and a leather-grained textured finish. The rose-tan interior includes a pad and pillow generously trimmed with lace. The VIP casket comes in blue or pink with a slightly softer lace-trimmed pastel interior of the same color. You get the idea.
Inscribed gravestones – some with the pet’s picture etched into them – dot the landscape. Fresh and fake flowers, balloons and rawhides are placed near many gravesites. Regency recommends planting fruit trees beside the stones, but few people have done so.
Ray Ottoson has already decided not to plant one. Dressed in blue jeans, a dungaree button-down shirt and tan construction boots, he walks slowly from stone to stone reading inscriptions.
- We miss you very much, Snoopina and know you are happy with Papa in heaven.
- The dog who rescues cats.
- Gentle soul, too brief your stay, eternal our love.
- Our tough guy with a soft heart.
- Courageous loving companions, into God’s hands we do thee send.
He carries a white Regency envelope that contains the decision his family made this morning about their black Labrador’s funeral arrangements.
“I believe it was cancer,” Ray said as he read the stone in front of him. “It was a real tricky surgery.”
Tasha was euthanized last night after complications following surgery. And now Ray wonders what Tasha’s stone will say.
The Ottoson’s adopted Tasha in 1996. Ray was sold the moment the pup lifted her head and kissed his hand. That was twelve years ago.
Today, he walks to the main office and hands his envelope to the receptionist. He worried about her quality of life post-surgery. “The life that she would have come back to would be completely different than what she was used to,” says Ray.
It’s now Minnie’s turn to use the funeral home; and it’s Jillian’s turn to cry. Together, Jillian and Brian walk through the door and onto the red carpet. A chandelier hangs between four skylights above the wicker chairs with red velvet cushions. A 1905 framed print named Clinique Cheron, by Theophile Steinlin, hangs on one of the walls.
There’s a marble-like stand in the front of the room. Jillian places Minnie’s blanket down and lays Minnie on her back.
“She was fine in the morning because she woke me up,” Jillian says. “She always does.”
Minnie was scheduled to have oral surgery today. “They’re so delicate,” says Brian as he watches Jillian grab a tissue from a nearby box to wipe away blood that’s coming from Minnie’s nasal passage and mouth.
“If it gets to the point where they have to breathe through their mouth, then it’s all over,” says Brian. “A rodent’s digestive system is proof that God has a sense of humor.”
“It was cancer,” Jillian chimes in. “A good mother knows her babies.” She picks Minnie up, wraps her in her blanket like a burrito, lays her back down and starts taking pictures.
“My ambition is to build my own vet school and hospital on Long Island, especially for exotics,” continues Brian. “Pet care is a growing field, but the medicines for exotics must improve.”
A staff member comes in to tell them that there’s another viewing at 2:00 o’clock. Either way, it’s time to bring Minnie to her scorching destination, the furnace. She’s getting warm and her fur soggy from being out of the freezer for too long.
The back door of the funeral home opens into a hallway that leads to different size furnaces. Jillian gives Minnie one last kiss and Brian snaps one last picture. Together, they place Minnie into the furnace and the mechanical stone door closes behind them.
With solemnly steps, they walk back to their RAV4 and slowly drive through the white picket fences. They make a left turn onto Middle Country Road heading to the Long Island Expressway en route to their family of beloved, and healthy, chinchillas.
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- Funeral Home
For more information: http://www.regencyforest.com/
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