Passing Paws Pet Cremations has tapped into a niche (but growing) market for personalised pet bereavement services, as part of the move towards greater humanisation of domestic animals.
Founded in 2014 by Lee and Rachel Cassell, who have self-funded the business since day one, Passing Paws provides a range of personalised pet bereavement services to more than 200 customers a month.
Rather than solely target veterinary practices, the couple decided to engage customers directly and focus on delivering compassion, which translated to the development of a suite of additional unique services.
According to Mr Cassell, the business was the first in Australia to introduce a ‘same day private cremation’, whereby the euthanasia procedure, collection, cremation and return of ashes can all take place within two hours.
In comparison, the common practice by other pet cremation services can take up to 14 days.
Customers can spend some time in the Passing Paws ‘Garden of Rest’, located within its Neerabup premises, where they can can hold a service and say some last words for their pet as the cremation takes place.
In many other cases, owners would simply leave their pet at the vet, return home and wait for the ashes to arrive weeks later.
Passing Paws also offers the largest collection of urns in the state, enabling customers to have a visual reminder of their pet’s personality, in addition to a suite of other customisable bereavement products.
In its pursuit to deliver differentiated quality services, the business has leveraged Mrs Cassell’s experience as a registered mental health nurse to create free ‘empathy sessions’ and ‘compassion fatigue training’, reportedly another Australian first, to cater to customers struggling with the loss of their pet.
Mr Cassell said Passing Paws had experienced 350 per cent growth in the past 12 months.
