A final farewell for furry friends

Light walls, wind chimes

Wang designed the facility himself. Wanting the place to be a warmhearted home rather than a cold mortuary, he painted the walls light yellow and hung a string of wind chimes along the eaves.

Rainbow Planet opened in December 2019. By the end of last month, it had held 1,900 animal funerals, and in addition to cats and dogs, it has provided services for hamsters, parrots, rabbits, lizards, frogs and fish.

When the owner brings a deceased pet to the home, Wang cleans the body, then places it on a small bed in the "farewell room" so the owner can say a last goodbye before the corpse is sent for cremation on the outskirts of Beijing.

If owners wish to collect the ashes on the spot, they can sit in a waiting room and watch the cremation live on closed circuit television.

The entire service costs about 1,200 yuan ($188). Owners can also customize ashes keepsakes, with prices ranging from a few hundred yuan to more than 10,000, while a single cremation service costs 600.

Rainbow Planet also has a special memorial room with compartmented shelves running along three walls. Owners can rent a compartment to display their pet's urn and visit regularly to remember their friend.

Many of the compartments are already occupied. Each has been decorated by the owner with snacks, toys and flowers their pet loved.

Wang remembers the first pet body he handled. It was an Old English sheepdog. She was old and a bit dirty, and her head fur was tied into a pigtail and held by a bow.

"I thought I would be scared. I dared not kill a rat when I was little, and I had always been afraid of handling raw meat when cooking. But when I met the sheepdog, I felt a very sacred sense of responsibility," he said. "The owner handed her over to me, and I had to be responsible for her and clean her up."

In the main hall, Wang has set up a photo wall in memory of many of the animals. He remembers lots of the stories about them because he regards the tales as being even more important than rituals.

Whenever a pet owner arrives, Wang chats with him or her before beginning the cleanup work.