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JANUARY 2015
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
NEWS
Association
PLPA Releases Findings of Inaugural
Professional Survey
STERLING,VA—
The
Pet Loss Professionals
Alliance
(PLPA), a group of about 400 pet
loss providers and related businesses, released
the findings of its 2013 Pet Loss Profession
Survey. This is the second annual survey of
the pet loss profession and has become an an-
nual measure of breadth of the profession.
The survey was completed by 69 pet loss
service providers in 40 states and two coun-
tries. Of the respondents:
• 55 percent operate a funeral home/me-
morial center
• 23 percent operate a cemetery
• 35 percent operate an on-site crematory
• 3 percent offer hospice services
• 47 percent operate more than one of the
above types of business
Based on SIC code listings from around the
country, PLPA approximates that there are
around 750 pet loss professionals in the United
States. From this assumption and survey results,
PLPA estimates that theUS figures for 2013 are:
• 1,467,024 pets were seen by pet loss busi-
nesses
• 14,774 were buried (1 percent)
• 1,463,456 were cremated (99 percent).
Of those cremated:
• 103,412 (7 percent) were partitioned
cremations (a physical separation was
employed to keep comingling of ashes
to a minimum)
• 915,608 (63 percent) were group cre-
mations (several pets cremated at once
using no means of physical separation)
• 444,432 (30 percent) were private cre-
mations (one pet cremated at a time)
The survey results also contain raw data for
each of the 40 states/regions in the US and
two other countries. Other information in
the report includes annual revenue, size of
staff, and how many respondents operate
solely pet or pet and human businesses.
“The information in the report gives us a
great opportunity to stand back and take a
look at the size of our industry,” said
Bill
Remkus
, CPLP, PLPA Co-Chair, owner of
Hinsdale Animal Cemetery & Crematory
in Willowbrook, IL.
“This report helps us gain a better grasp as
to the depth of our profession. But the de-
tailed local statistics are invaluable in provid-
ing us a snapshot of our market share and op-
portunities for growth,” Remkus said.
professional growth for providers of pet-relat-
ed death care services. It is a committee of the
International Cemetery, Cremation and Fu-
neral Association (ICCFA).
Founded in 1887, the International Cem-
etery, Cremation and Funeral Association is
the only international trade association rep-
resenting all segments of the cemetery, cre-
mation, funeral and memorialization profes-
sion. Its membership is composed of more
than 8,900 rooftop locations and 15,000
professionals in the cemetery, funeral home
and crematory industries, as well as supplier
and related businesses worldwide.