Why We Started Family Pet Mortuary

Meet Veterinarian Dr. Rob Santos Creator of Family Pet Mortuary & Assured I.D.

With over 20 years of experience as a veterinarian, I know firsthand that euthanasia is a grief-filled experience. Helping other family’s fur babies cross the rainbow bridge is always difficult, but nothing could have prepared me for this experience with my own beloved pup.

Rosie, my sweet 11 year-old German shorthair, developed terminal cancer. Once treatments were no longer helping and she was beginning to suffer, I knew it was time to let her go. With such a deep bond between us, I was unable to perform the euthanasia myself. Instead my friend Dr. Doug Marks stepped in. It was a difficult experience, but it also gave me peace to know she was not suffering anymore.

However, what happened next is what truly changed my life. (If you’re sensitive to this topic, you may want to skip the next paragraph and read on. Please know I write this not to upset anyone, but to share how the reality of typical procedures struck me so poignantly.)

My staff prepared her body, as we have prepared 1,000s of other pets’ bodies in the past. They placed Rosie in a black, plastic garbage bag and labeled it with her name on a sticker. They put her in a freezer on top of other frozen, dead animals that were euthanized before her. As the week went by, other animals joined the stack in a similar fashion. About a week later, a pick-up truck transferred her, along with the pile of other beloved pets who were also getting cremated.

This process made me worry,
What if her sticker fell off?
How would I know if I was getting my Rosie’s ashes back?
Why are all of these wonderfully loyal companions being transported so haphazardly?

My gut and my heart told me that there had to be a better way, so I made it my mission to develop a way to track pet transport and ensure they were moved with the dignity that they so rightfully deserve.

Instead of plastic bags, we use sturdy, cardboard caskets to ensure your pet is moved with care and respect. We do not stack these arbitrarily, but intentionally transport each pet carefully and efficiently.

To ensure pet owners know where their pets are at all times, I developed Assured I.D. – a system of using metal identification tags to carefully track pets from the time of their passing until their cremated remains are returned back to you. This way, you can rest assured knowing that you receive the remains of your beloved pet.

At last, I exhaled a sigh of relief knowing that I could guarantee loving pet owners, like you, that their pets were where they should be at all times during the cremation process.

When you choose Family Pet Mortuary, you’re choosing peace of mind knowing that your fur baby will be treated with careful attention and respect from the time they pass away until their remains are returned to you – guaranteed.

Thank you for supporting our family-owned business and the dignified treatment of peacefully passed on pets.

From my heart to yours,

Dr. Rob Santos, DVM