Furrever Friends Cremation Offers Peace for Pet Owners

Whether it be Rosie’s Dog Beach or the annual Halloween dog parade that rules the streets, Long Beach has a multitude of pet-friendly events and hang-out spots for the overwhelming amount of animal lovers in the city. With so many passionate owners in the city enjoying their time with their beloved pets, there are also homes with grieving pet parents in Long Beach every day.

And, in such an animal-friendly city, Heather Birdwell, my mom, saw a lucrative business opportunity and it soon turned into a burning passion to provide grieving pet parents a memorable service they deserve.

“I’ve honed in on all my business skills,” Birdwell describes, as she places a bouquet of flowers in a vase in her crematorium.

There are no laws in California that prevent somebody from burying a pet in their backyard, but cremation has still become increasingly popular. According to Grand Review Research, pet cremation held the highest revenue within the pet funeral services in 2024 and is anticipated to grow 11.61% by 2030.

Cremation is a very important service; for it is ceremonious and allows people to spread their loved ones in different places around the world and share ashes with other family members. Long Beach has numerous human crematories and mortuaries, but there has never been a place quite like Furrever Friends.

Rob Koopmans, a Long Beach local, had recently lost his beloved family pet of over 17 years. He and his family knew they wanted their pet, Dodger, to stay close to home so they decided to cremate him so they could hold onto his remains for years to come.

“I don’t know what I really would have done,” Koopman says. “[Furrever Friends] is a resource that allows you to treat your pet like they’re part of the family.”

For Birdwell, one of the most interesting things she has learned while being a pet after-care specialist is how many religions and cultures believe that cremation is the best way to celebrate life, human or pet.

“I’m journaling every day,” Birdwell says, “I want to write a book one day talking about all the people I have met over the last four years.”

The “comfort room” is the most special room at the crematorium, for it has so many options for different and customizable memorabilia like beautiful urns, blown glass, impressionable clay pieces and the list goes on. Not only does it have Birdwell’s fresh bouquets of flowers and after- life inventory, but it is also a serene place for grieving clients to have their final moments with their deceased pets.

With the saddened people she consoles on a daily basis, the cremation industry has shown Birdwell that death is just a part of life, and death is also an extremely stigmatized conversation amongst people and makes many uncomfortable.

She has now found her true passion, which is teaching people about the grieving process and that her and her team at Furrever Friends ensures dignified care for their deceased loved one because pets are family too.