Partnership Spotlight: Gentle Pet Crossing
Lakeside Animal Hospital has been serving the community of Plantation, FL since 1995. Our highly-qualified staff isn’t just made of pet lovers, it’s made of people who care deeply for pet owners, too. So, we understand how hard it is to lose a member of the community, and we’re here to help. At Lakeside, we want to offer the pets and owners of Plantation as much comfort as possible. Our love and care for our community set us apart, so it’s no surprise that we partnered with Gentle Pet Crossing .
Why Gentle Pet Crossing?
When Gentle Pet reached out to us proposing a partnership, we were immediately impressed. Their compassion and enthusiasm for their services reflected our feelings for our clients and their pets. Their gentle and environmentally-friendly services spoke to our mission. Protecting the planet and providing the most compassionate customer experience possible to Lakeside Animal Hospital clients is of utmost importance.
Gentle Pet Crossing is a family-owned company that provides afterlife care services for pets in the form of cremation through water or aquamation. Aquamation, unlike cremation by fire, is a gentler and more eco-friendly way to reduce the body to its essential elements.
Aquamation results in zero direct emissions to the atmosphere. Additionally, pet owners can expect to receive between 20 and 30% more remains than traditional cremations. Because each pet is placed in a separate compartment, your pet ’ s remains will never get mixed in with another pet’s.
Lakeside Animal Hospital and Gentle Pet Crossing Share a Mission
We at Lakeside Animal Hospital know that our clients seek a gentle way to bid their departed family members farewell. This is why we’ve done away with harsh cremations in favor of aquamation through Gentle Pet Crossing. The goal of this partnership is to soothe our clients through the traumatic loss of a pet by providing a gentle farewell experience.
Grief Support Services at Lakeside Animal Hospital
Another reason why we’re proud to partner with Gentle Pet Crossing is that they have a peaceful sanctuary and facilities for formal pet funeral gatherings. Here, owners of departed pets can give their loved ones a peaceful, loving goodbye.
This reminded so much of the Lakeside Animal Hospital Comfort Room, and our desire to ensure that every client has a safe, private space to grieve. Many years ago, our Comfort Room was actually an exam room. One of our vets was comforting a pet owner and realized that the room was too sterile. A few coats of neutral-toned paint, comfortable chairs, some plants, soft music, and a rug later, our Comfort Room was born.
When a client is grieving, we light a candle and set out a sign at our front desk. The sign requests that all other clients keep their voices low to respect the grieving client. In addition to our comfort room, Lakeside Animal Hospital has been working on offering virtual pet loss support meetings since March.
Dr. Frione’s Experience with Gentle Pet Crossing
In a heartbreaking turn of events, Dr. Frione had to put down her sweet, loving cat. When she called Gentle Pet Crossing, they came by and picked her cat up in a beautiful basket. Dr. Frione was able to see their compassion and love for pets first-hand. In fact, we were so moved by their heartfelt service that we decided to begin a partnership with Gentle Pet Crossing.
