Call Kurtis: More And More Animal Lovers Turning To Pet Funerals

Man's best friend is now getting sendoffs you'd expect to see for their owners.

David Le of Elk Grove recently buried his French bulldog Zoey.

"She was a daughter to me. I miss her so much," Le said, choking back tears. "She was my best friend. She always slept with me."

Instead of a backyard burial, David decided he wanted a formal sendoff. So on a warm afternoon, dozens of his friends and family wearing black comforted one another as they decorated her grave with a sea of flowers. Sniffling could be heard as a Catholic priest said some prayers at a graveside service before her casket was lowered into the ground.

Lisa West with the East Lawn Pet Loss Center in Sacramento says there's been a huge spike in pet funerals with a 900 percent increase in business over the span of a year. They've handled services for dogs, cats, snakes, birds and even a goat. Many of them are buried at the six acre Sierra Hills Pet Cemetery.

They pick up the deceased animal in their pet hearse and bring the remains to the pet loss center where grief counselors offer families all of their options, ranging from a cremation and simple urn that will cost you hundreds of dollars to an open casket and full burial that can run you $1,000 and up.

"People love their pets and they really want to take care of them through their life process," West said.

Calling herself the fairy dog mother, Mariaelana Lovell rescues dogs.

"I want the sickest ones, the most-forgotten ones," she said.

She's spent nearly $7,000 on pet funerals, buying plots to hold 14 more animals.

In California, it's against the law to be buried with your pet, so she and her husband bought their own plots nearby in the East Lawn cemetery so they can be near their animals in the afterlife. She says dogs have loved her unconditionally.

"They deserve the dignity. They deserve to live with dignity and die with dignity," she said.

Lovell says a dog helped her beat alcoholism. Another dog helped get her through a traumatic childhood.

"My German shepherd comforted me. I'll never finish paying that debt," said Lovell.

Perhaps pets are more important to people than ever. People are hugging their pets closer in this economy.

Others are waiting to have children later in life, with more people in their 20s and 30s calling pets their kids. Baby boomers suffering from empty-nest syndrome are turning to animals as companions as well.

"The pets are vitally important to their life. They treat them as well as any person," West said.

David called Zoey his daughter. Her funeral cost around $2,000.

"It's worth it, every penny," he said.

No expense was spared when it comes to honoring a dog he considered family.

"The only way I could be peaceful from it was to have a proper burial," he said.