Pet funerals are the latest trend in a booming pet industry
Li Chao has one lifelong regret: Not burying his best friend properly. He’s been making up for it ever since.
Li remembers Jojo’s death vividly. A long-haired husky, she’d lived with Li for seven years and witnessed some of his most intimate struggles, from bachelorhood to marriage. But one afternoon in October 2015, Jojo had an epileptic fit and died before Li’s eyes. Li wept for several hours before realizing he needed to do something about Jojo’s remains.
Unfortunately, the cremation services he contacted only added to his pain. “Their manner was cold and distant. Everything was simple and crude,” Li tells TWOC. “And the final price was higher than what we’d agreed on. I should have said goodbye to her in a much better way.” The heartbreaking experience motivated Li to make a life-changing decision—he would open his own pet funeral service, to provide the level of attention and sympathy that he and his beloved Jojo had been denied.
Dog Gone is a story from our issue, “Down to Earth.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Sun Jiahui is a freelance writer and former editor at The World of Chinese. She writes about Chinese language, society and culture, and is especially passionate about sharing stories of China's ancient past with a wider audience. She has been writing for TWOC for over six years, and pens the Choice Chengyu column.
