Pet Loss Center to help owners honor and remember furry friends in unique way

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- When a pet passes away, it can be a difficult time for everyone, especially when children experience that loss as well.

But a new establishment in Houston will now allow pet owners to honor the ones they loved in a truly special and unique way.

"When it comes to the end of life care, families are now wanting more options," said Pet Loss Center one of the center's founders, Coleen Ellis.

The center is doing just that by offering rituals, grief support and memorialization for pets.

Similar to a funeral for humans, the center allows owners to honor their pets and say goodbye in a way that's most meaningful to them.

"When you think about what we do on the human side is, the death happens and we've got a couple of days to process it with a visitation and then we move right into a service, " Ellis explained. "This is the same philosophy."

She says the Pet Loss Center is a warm inviting facility where everyone truly focuses on support for those grieving the loss of a loved pet. She says if you want to use the center as a place for euthanasia and say your final goodbyes, it's something they allow as well.

There are two private comfort rooms for viewings and gatherings, a journey board where children can write their pet's name to celebrate their life, and a display of various keepsake urns for pet owners to choose from.

"We want to make sure that we're a resource for children to parents to vet techs to veterinarians and everybody else involved, because everybody's got different needs and everybody's got different ways that they want to navigate through the life that they shared with a pet and how they want to honor that life," Ellis said.