Hong Kong pet owners hold funeral service for their furry friends to bid farewell.
By Whitney Kwok
In Ruby Lai’s* bedroom, a jar containing the ashes of Siu Dim is placed on a bookshelf along with a picture of her pet dog. She also made a necklace and a paw print for her sister in memory of their beloved furry friend.
Lai euthanised her 15-year-old dog after it suffered from acute heart failure in December 2024. She called a pet hospice care service company to collect the remains from a clinic to the company’s centre.
The toy poodle’s body was refrigerated and cleaned in the centre. A 40-minute mourning ceremony was held before cremation a few days later.
“About 10 friends and relatives attended the ceremony. During the ceremony, a video of Siu Dim’s life was played. We talked about our memories with our furry friend, then we bid farewell to our beloved Siu Dim,” the pet owner recalls.
The service costs HK $1,800 (US $231.37) for the death care services, and an additional HK $1,200 (US $154.25) for the souvenirs.
“Pets are not just toys for fun. They are our lifetime companions that have become members of our family. When a family member passes away, the remains are not just dumped into a refuse collection point,” she says.
Under the current law, there are no strict regulations on the treatment of animal bodies. Pet owners are advised to pack dead animal bodies properly in plastic bags and deliver the remains to the Public Refuse Collection Points in all 18 districts in Hong Kong, which will then be sent to landfills.
H.K. Pet’s Hospice Care Service is one of the service providers in Hong Kong.
“Pet owners can’t bear to just pack their beloved pets’ remains in plastic bags and throw them away. Our service can offer a venue for them to bid their pets a proper farewell,” business development manager Chillie Woerm says.
The company also offers other services such as pet memorial souvenirs, including necklaces, 3D paw prints, crystal blocks and photo frames, made with the pet’s bones, ashes or hair, which cost from HK $638 (US $81.89) to HK $2,980 (US $382.66).
Pet memorial cabinets can also be rented by owners to store the ashes of their pets with the pets’ food bowls and toys. The annual cost ranges from HK $1,500 (US $192.52) to HK $3,200 (US $410.71), depending on the location of the cabinet.
Options of pet souvenirs include necklace, 3D paw print, crystal block and photo frame , which cost from HK $638 (US $81.89) to HK $2,980 (US $382.66) (Screenshot via website of H.K. Pet’s Hospice Care Service)
H.K. Pet’s Hospice Care Service offers four pet memorial cabinet sites, the annual cost range from HK $1,500 (US $192.52) to HK $3,200 (US $410.71) (Screenshot via Instagram)
“Most of the cases we handle involve cats and dogs. In the last two years, we also have more clients with small-sized pets like hamsters and chinchillas,” Woerm says.
The company has also received requests for hosting funeral services for goldfish and turtles whose owners used to just flush down the toilet.
It costs from HK $1,280 (US $164.31) to HK $8,280 (US $1062.76), depending on the size of a pet for individual cremation services. Every pet is cremated in an independent tray of its own.
“After receiving calls from pet owners, we will collect the pet’s remains from them. Then the bodies will be refrigerated in the cold storage and cleaned in a room equipped with an Ozonized Water Disinfection System by a funeral director,” Woerm says.
“The farewell ceremony can be tailor-made. We provide three types of rooms: Chinese styled one for pet owners who are Buddhist and Taoist, western styled one for owners who are Christian and Catholic, and a room with no religious features. Customers can conduct religious rituals of their choice,” she adds.
The manager shares that pet owners will then attend the cremation ceremony.
“The owner can press the button to kick-off the cremation themselves. The duration depends on the size of the pet, for example, a cat or small-sized dog takes around one to two hours. The whole process is similar to the funeral service for a human being,” she says.
Pet owners can collect bone ashes in urns after cremation.
Philip Wong Yat-lung, deputy director of a research institute of Economics and Policy in Hong Kong observes growing emotional attachment to pets in Hong Kong has contributed to the growth of the pet service industry.
“Pets do not let humans down and they are human’s best friends. Such value has groomed the demand for services like pet cremation, grooming, and healthcare. Urbanisation and the limited living space also contribute to the popularity of smaller pets, further fueling the market,” he says.
In Hong Kong, 241 900 households were keeping dogs or cats in Hong Kong, with an average household size of 2.9 members, representing 9.4 per cent of all households according to the most recent Thematic Household Survey on keeping of dogs and cats conducted by the Census and Statistics Department in 2018.
Wong points out that the annual revenue of pet-related industries in Hong Kong has continued to rise even during the pandemic and the economic downturns that followed.
The average monthly spending on cat care has continued to increase from HK $1,253 (US $161.68) in 2022 to HK $1,889 (US $243.08) in 2024, according to a survey by Exhibition Group, which organises the Hong Kong Cat Expo annually. The spending on other pets such as dogs also shows a similar trend.
“The resilience of the pet industry during challenging economic times stems from the strong emotional bond between pet owners and their pets. Pet care is increasingly viewed as essential, and owners are willing to spend on high-quality services, even during financial downturns,” he says.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request.
Edited by Cindy Lee
Sub-edited by James Cheang
