595: Pet Aftercare and Ethical Standards with Donna Shugart-Bethune
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What happens after a pet passes away, and how can pet professionals support owners through this difficult time?Donna Shugart-Bethune, Executive Director of the International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories (IAOPCC), shares the importance of ethical pet aftercare. She discusses the industry’s lack of federal regulation, the role of IAOPCC in setting standards, and why transparency and trust are essential. Donna shares insights on the evolution of pet cremation, the impact of grief, and how professional pet sitters can guide clients in making informed aftercare decisions. This conversation highlights the importance of self-regulation and education in ensuring pet owners receive compassionate, reliable services.
Main Topics:
The Evolution of Pet Aftercare – How cremation became the dominant choice.
Self-Regulation in an Unregulated Industry – Why setting ethical standards is crucial.
Transparency & Trust in Pet Cremation – How IAOPCC ensures accountability.
Supporting Clients Through Pet Loss – The role of pet sitters in aftercare discussions.
The Future of Pet Aftercare – Trends in cremation, memorialization, and eco-friendly options.
Main Takeaway: “The biggest factor we have within our industry is trust. It’s so important to know that you can trust the person taking your baby into their care.” – Donna Shugart-Bethune
Losing a pet is heartbreaking, and pet owners deserve to know their beloved companion is treated with dignity and care. In our latest episode, we sit down with Donna Shugart-Bethune of IAOPCC to discuss the importance of transparency, ethical pet cremation, and how pet sitters can support clients through pet loss. Because trust matters—especially in the moments that mean the most. Listen now! #PetAftercare #PetSitterConfessional #TrustMatters
About our guest:
Donna Shugart-Bethune is a part of the Shugart Family operations of Pet Angel Memorial Centers in Atlanta, Georgia. The Shugart Family has been in the pet aftercare industry for more than 53 years. Pet Angel Memorial Centers operates four office locations and two pet cemeteries specializing in pet and equine cremations. Considered one of the nation's premier pet funeral homes, Pet Angel Memorial Center in Atlanta features three counseling rooms, two chapels, and the largest showroom in the nation offering more than 450 memorial products. Offering Same Day Services, Viewings and Visitations, along with superior client care, Pet Angel Memorial Centers has led the way in establishing excellence in pet aftercare.
Donna, who grew up in the Shugart family business, has more than 36 years of experience in the pet aftercare industry. She has served as the Executive Director for the IAOPCC for more than 14 years.
Donna played a crucial role in developing the IAOPCC's online certification programs, which are available today. She also introduced Digital Badging Certification Programs for IAOPCC Members and implemented the Accreditation Mobile App Program, providing worldwide access to Accreditation.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet aftercare, self-regulation, International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories, best practices, transparency, grief support, pet cremation, pet burial, accreditation program, ethical standards, pet parent trust, industry standards, pet loss, memorialization options.
SPEAKERS
Collin, Donna B.
Collin 00:00
Music, welcome back to pet sitter, confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter today, we're brought to you by our friends at kind pet and the peaceful pet music, calm music for pets YouTube channel, when we talk about raising the bar in pet care, it doesn't just mean what we are doing, it also means making sure that we are partnering with the right people and the people who are also trying to do the same in all aspects of a pet's life, from groomers, trainers, veterinarians, dieticians, everything needs to have the bar raised, and we need to know what that means. And one of those aspects that doesn't get talked enough about, we believe, is what happens after a pet passes away. That's why we are super excited to be speaking with Donna shoot guard Bethune, Executive Director of the International Association of pet cemeteries and crematories, Donna shares the history and evolution of pet aftercare across the globe, and why self regulation in an unregulated industry is critical to maintaining trust with our clients, and to do that, we have to be transparent and to build at every single step. This was a really eye opening conversation with Donna. I hope you brought a pen and paper to take some notes. Let's get started.
Donna B. 01:19
Yeah, happy to thank you so much, Collin, for having me today. I'm very excited to be on with you and your listeners. Well, as Collin said, I'm the executive director for the International Association of pet cemeteries and crematories. We are an association that has been around since 1971 and we are made up of members who are actually pet cemetery and pet crematory owners and operators from around the world. We're actually represented in about 18 countries, and we have about 400 members that are part of our association, and these are members that they really want to uphold best practices and best standards in pet aftercare, and they they become members because they want to have ethical practices and oversight of a standards and committee that helps to oversee that and helps to regulate some of the practices within our industry
02:21
since 1971
Collin 02:24
what was what was going on back then? That was kind of why this association formed. Well,
Donna B. 02:30
it actually started with a small handful of individuals who had pet cemeteries, and they really wanted to be able to get together with others from across the US to establish to share ideas honestly, and to establish some standards for practices, best practices of operations and within our industry, it is self regulated. There's no federal guidelines or regulatory standards that are required. And so they really wanted to be able to start to set some of those into place. And so this small group of individuals would get together twice a year. And it kind of started from there, and it just really grew.
Collin 03:15
So sounds like out of that, that need and desire to do do better, right and right, one way that we do that is by talking to other people, right? How do you that wonderful question? Well, how do you do or, like, what's your what kind of results do you have with this? And those conversations really do help everybody learn throughout that entire process. So true, right? There started in 1971 the members are getting together. When did you start getting involved with the association?
03:44
Well, my
Donna B. 03:46
family, my father, actually started our pet aftercare business back in 1972 a year later, he began and started then, and you know, just to kind of to go to your point, you know, back then, when he first started, he would show up at someone's home, or someone would call him for, you know, hey, can you take care of my pet? And they would ask him to please come to their home. But don't have a, you know, have the car unmarked. Didn't want anyone else to know that they loved and cared for their pet in that way. And so that's back in 1972 you know, it wasn't something that was, you know, well known, or something that was accepted, you know. And so he would begin to take care of people in that way, and then fast forward to today. Totally different people love their pets. They want everyone to know how much they love their pets and how they're taking care of their pets. So that's just kind of a quick overview of how quickly things can change. Or, you know, within within an industry. But our family, actually, my dad started the business. And in 72 and our family has, our entire family was involved in that. We are now a third generation business where we actually have children and grandchildren that are at the business still today. And you know, it's, it's something that we all love dearly and became a part of our, you know, who we are as a family. And at the time, when we first started out, dad was looking for some standards and practices and ideas and how to, you know, continue to evolve, to do, to do the right thing by pet parents. And so he joined the association. So we've actually been members of the Association for just many, many years since, since 72 and I kind of grew up in it and around it, and just kind of, you know, continued to be involved. And that's how I'm the executive director today. So I have a lot of years of experience in being within this industry well. And
Collin 06:00
it definitely is a sounds like it has to be a passion for you, right? Like, it's, it's, it's something that, again, I don't, not enough people really give a second thought to of what really is this, and who are the people in charge, and where, why are they? I think that gets to a question too. Of a lot of people be like, Why? Why are you in this? Like, why is this something that you feel is important and needs to be done well.
Donna B. 06:23
You definitely have to have a passion, you know, if you're in pet aftercare, and you have to one, most, all of our members that that actually come into this industry, they come into it because they love pets. They love pets, and they want to make sure that they have, you know, any pet parent has a good experience, as good as you can expect. Whenever a loss happens and they want to take care of people, they have a servant's heart and really wanting to be able to take care of people throughout the whole process. And you really do have to have that, that mindset when you go into this industry to want to be able to do, do right by the pet parents, and help them through that process,
Collin 07:10
that servant mindset, I think that is so underappreciated in what's what's required to do well, because it means you're you're not just do well, but doing Right by people. It means trying to do better, and it's all motivated out of trying to just make sure that people are cared for. I say it all the time. I've never been called like a dog has never reached into his pocket to pay me at the end of a walk, and a cat never calls me and says, I need you to scoop my litter right? It's always a person. It's always somebody who loves their pet more than some type more than anything in the world, right? They need help with something. And it's, it's our, I know our, our honor to get to step forward and say, I can do that for you, right? And here, let me walk you through this process.
Donna B. 07:53
And I think when it comes to a lot of times, you know, with pet loss, people are often times even surprised by their own level of grief, and they're thrown into maybe a situation that they, you know, hadn't thought of, because it's nothing, it's nothing any of us ever want to think about and dwell on, obviously, and then suddenly it happens, and you're trying to deal with the the loss of the pet, and you're having to make decisions, and it's a very emotional and upsetting time, and so a lot of times, they're even surprised by their own level of grief. So when you find a pet aftercare professional that can kind of come alongside of you, walk you through the decisions, help you to understand and then also provide that grief support and resources that you're going to need that go even extend beyond the loss and the immediate need that you have. And that's one of the things that we really talk about, a lot about within our our association, we provide a lot of certification programs for our members so that they can learn how to how to walk alongside the pet parent, the type of griefs that are involved, and also how to, you know, set practices and standards within their own business and their staff to be able to do those same things.
Collin 09:13
It's one thing to provide you said that that immediate need, like, that's one level of service, but it's something completely different, to set somebody else up for success for the years to come and the years to follow. And that really sounds like a differentiator between your members and others. Of there is there are these resources. There is this push to go. It's not just about this one moment. It's not just about this one thing of taking care of a pet after it's passed. It's what's the human going to need five years down the line? Do they have the right resources, the right therapists? Do they have the right techniques? Do they know that we're here to be there for them whenever they go through those rough patches like that's a whole that, this is a whole nother standard and level of of care, right?
Donna B. 09:58
So one of the things. We also our members agree to, whenever they actually become members of our association, they agree to a certain set of standards that they're going to operate under for pet parents, you know, such as, they agree to have an open door policy where a pet parent can come in and actually see the operations of facilities if they need to view their pot, their the body of their pet prior to the service, they have the option to be able to do that. They agree to total transparency on their tracking identification process. They'd agree to uphold certain standards and certain, you know, EPA requirements and regulations, they also agree to be under review by an Ethics and Standards Committee. So if there is an issue that comes up and something happens and a pet parent contacts our association, we actually have a committee that will help review the situation and, you know, try to come to terms with an agreement or and also help to educate maybe that member on maybe how to do things better the next time, and try to, you know, so it's an ongoing education process. And those are just a few of the things that they, you know, agree to during, you know, by being a member of our association. Have
Collin 11:20
you heard of time to pet? Doug, from bat to the motcare has this to say, time to
Speaker 1 11:24
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Collin 11:43
you're looking for new pet sitting software, give time to bed a try. Listeners of our show will save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to bet.com/confessional I love that open door policy and total transparency, because this is definitely an aspect you know, I had the privilege of getting to tour a facility that's a member of yours, and when they talked about the tracking that we could get, you know, through that entire process, it was kind of like, yeah, it's like, you know, your dog's like, one last adventure, right? Like, where are they going? And I get to be, I'm with them always, right? It's another aspect of that, of sometimes we've never let the pet out of our sight. This may be one of the first times that that pet is out of your home for the 16 day period of time. And in addition to the grieving loss and the foreverness of that, it's now they're not even there. And so I, when I learned about that aspect of what is, what the possibilities are, it was like, oh man. Like, how that's wonderful, like, how comforting to bring to people. Of like, yeah, you just open up the app and you can see, you know what's going on and right? You
Donna B. 12:47
see exactly where they're at in the process. And you can feel comfortable enough, because, honestly, the probably the biggest factor we have within our industry is trust. You know, it's so important. And unfortunately, just like every industry, sometimes there's bad players in the industry. They're not in it for the right intentions, or maybe, or maybe they just don't even know the right way to do it, you know, sometimes it's as simple as they just don't know. And you know, the the one bad player can give the whole industry a bad reputation, and that's sad, but it's true. And so you know it's so critical to know that you can trust the person that is taking your baby into their care, and that you know where they are throughout the whole process. And also it helps in the grieving process, if you want to be able to have a viewing and have a small service, or say one last goodbye, because you get, you didn't get to do that, maybe at your veterinarians office. Or, you know, maybe the kids are away at college, and they want to come home and they want to be able to say goodbye and be able to have that opportunity really helps in the grieving process as you move forward. And so that's, that's, you know, just some of the things that are just so critical and important that our members, you know, agree to be able to offer those options to pet parents. Yeah,
Collin 14:07
it's one thing to say. Oh no, trust me, everything will be okay. It's a whole other thing to say, and I'll prove it to you, right? Prove it, and I'm so confident in what I do, every aspect of this process is fully open and available to you. And if you're still not happy, here are some people who you can go and let know, and then I'll place myself under review. Like, I really that's such an interesting concept of, Hey, I am under I agree to submit to these best practices. And if you don't think that I'm abiding by these, let these people know, and they'll review me and it again this whole like, Yeah, what a level of confidence and trust you can give to people in this really, really vulnerable moment in their life.
Donna B. 14:51
That's so true. And another, another aspect of what we offer, we offer an accreditation program, and under our accreditation program, members can act. Actually measure themselves by the standards that are set within our accreditation the accreditation program is made up of about 350 standards of operation, and that includes everything from you know, the the actual tracking process and how that's done, to you know how records are kept to how the pet is actually given back to the pet parent. It's really and also how the facility itself is set up and operational. It has everything to do with just options that are also available, you know, grief resources that are available so they agree to basically go through the accreditation process, have it reviewed. They actually can do the accreditation through a mobile app program that we offer, which is worldwide. So we have members in Mexico and France and Spain that are accredited operations. And so it gives another level of trust to that pet parent, to know that they've actually gone through and set up best practices of operations for their facilities, and for, you know, the pet parent, that's just that's huge, because they know that they've already, you know, gone through the the review process. And
Collin 16:21
so again, that's where you have the standard. You have this list of things you must meet in order to get this stamp of approval. They go to the design process, they submit photos, and, you know, whatever, whatever walkthroughs, you know, so that you go Can, can review that, and then you say yes or no, or, here's how to make this, this better to to actually meet this stand correct Exactly. How did that list of 350 things get developed? Because that sounds very daunting. Donna, I'm not going
Donna B. 16:49
to lie. It does. It actually was a group of our members who had, you know, between the the seven people that were on the original committee, there was, you know, 200 years worth of experience, and it was a group of individuals that met each month over a five year period. So it wasn't something that was quickly done over a weekend. It's literally a five year ongoing process. And, you know, developing the standards, developing the best practices, reviewing every aspect of the of the process, and we rolled that out in 2014 and began the accreditation process. And, you know, since that time, it's continued to grow and become really an industry standard. You know, within our industry, we are actually the only association that has best practices and that offers an accreditation program along with certification programs. And that's really, really huge because, you know, within because we are a self regulated industry, there's no federal guidelines, you know, or regulations that are mandated. There's a few states that have a handful of laws, and most of those deal with advising the pet parent of their options are, you know, a pet cemetery may have a standard of, you know, a section of cemetery that can be allotted for just pets. And so, you know, it, there's very, like I said, a handful of states that even have anything on the books at all. And
Collin 18:26
that you said is that's an ongoing process. We are constantly reviewing these, making sure they're the most up to date with technology and, you know, advancement and understanding and, you know, and research and stuff, right?
Donna B. 18:37
That's so true. Yeah. So each year there's an updated standards. The committee still continues to meet every single month, and they go over standards, and you're always implementing new standards. We're currently working on alkaline hydrolysis, which is also known as aquamation, and so we have a certification program for that, as well as accreditation standards and and that's a quickly evolving industry that's continuing to grow. And so that's, you know, we're, we're constantly updating and adding to and, you know, perfecting the processes that we have in
Collin 19:14
place. What's the amount of overlap with those processes from the from the human side of things and kind of how, how similar, dissimilar are they to that, that side of the industry? Well, they're actually
Donna B. 19:29
very similar. We actually partner also with Cana, which is the cremation Association of North America, and so we partner with them to offer a lot of our certification and accreditation programs. So it gives you know everyone the opportunity to know that they can visit our website to review and look at the programs that we offer, and then also with Cana. So we partner together in that many of the programs mirror a lot of you know with the you. You know, there's obviously some differences, but in terms of, you know, the processes, the chain of custody, what's very important in the entire process, those are things that we look at and review, and you know that might be slightly different than the humans, but in terms of, like, what's most important and making sure that that chain of custody and processes, you know, done in the correct manner, in the right order, and records are kept. Those things are, are very, very equal. Do you ever get
Collin 20:31
pushback from these standards, you know, from people who want to be a member, or from people who find out about them? Do you ever, you know? Do you ever get the this is, you know, unreasonable, and how could you ever expect somebody to do X, Y, Z, honestly,
Donna B. 20:43
we don't to be truthful, and I think it's because people that really love the industry, they're passionate about what they do, they really want to do the very best, and they want to offer their very best services. And so they're they're hungry for the information and wanting to know, well, here's another way that you could do things, or here's something that maybe they haven't thought of. So we've, you know, I've always found that most all, every one of our members, have been very receptive and very open. Because, like I said, if you really want to, if you're passionate about what you do, and you're passionate about the industry, you really want to be the best, and you want to offer the best services. And, you know, that's, that's why we, you know, have the members that we have. I
Collin 21:31
guess it is kind of a self selecting group of people who are already looking at best industry standards and practices. When they find a list, I'm sure it's like, Finally, right? Like, Oh man, now I can actually do something with this and, like, actually work on what I need to
Speaker 2 21:43
right, right? Yeah, yeah. I didn't want to take
Collin 21:48
a step back and just talk about and ask, ask you about the history of the pet after, of pet aftercare in the in the United States, or maybe global, you know, because you talked about how in 1971 and 72 there was, there was already this. There was still a stigma of people wanting to do this and acceptability of it. So what? What's the a little bit of the history of of pet aftercare? Yeah,
Donna B. 22:11
so when in back in 1971 most everyone either buried their pet in the backyard. Are, you know, they had a local pet cemetery, if they were lucky enough to have a local pet cemetery, you know, many. There weren't that many pet cemeteries back then. And so it started to grow. And the way that it's really evolved historically, again, pet burials in the backyard, pet cemeteries. And that's, you know, pretty much true up until probably about 2530 years ago, cremation began, began to become more and more accepted practice, and it began to grow. And in the last 15 to 20 years, it's definitely grown exponentially. And the reason for that are a lot of just our society, urbanization, of our cities and communities, and, you know, society norms have just changed and thought processes on. Maybe there's, you know, families that where we used to like maybe live in a community for 30 years or their our entire lives. Now, we're more transient society. We move around a lot, so cremation just makes sense. They're, you know, they don't want to leave their pet if they're moving out of state. They don't want to leave the pet in the backyard. They don't want to leave their pet in the pet cemetery that you know. They want to be able to take them with them. Because, again, our idea, our our views towards pets, also evolved. You know, we see pets as members of the family, and they're part of our family, and we want them to go with us. And so there's just much more accepted practices of cremation. So before where it might be 80% you know, pet burial. Now we really are looking more at 90% cremation, and most people choose cremation
Collin 24:07
as pet sitters and dog walkers. We know how common anxiety is, whether it's fireworks, thunderstorms or just the stress of being alone. One simple tool to help music that background music that you're hearing right now, like right now. Now is from the peaceful pet music, calm music for pets on YouTube. It's a go to resource for many pet pros, packed with calming melodies and nature sounds that help pets relax during visits. Try playing it while you're over, or turn it on just before you leave, and consider sharing with your clients too. Just search for peaceful pet music on YouTube, and hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of calm. That's interesting that you mentioned there's this, the there's an emotional side of this, and then there's the practical side of where this need arises from. It's, yeah, that's people view their pets more and more as family, increasingly, every year, right? You know? And we say seven out of 10 pet owners would forego medical intervention in their life if it meant they could have medical intervention in the life of their pet. That kind of, kind of changes the perspective, right? And then, so that's, that's the emotional side. But then you mentioned the practical side of just people are moving around more than ever. They're more transient. They're not sitting there where they can have the backyard burial and be with their pet that way. And so putting those two together, it does just change the need, and, you know, in total, for this kind of service. And along with the, you know, the the societal acceptance, right, there's not so much stigma around this. People don't find it weird as a thing to do, right,
Speaker 2 25:39
right? And, you know, I think, I think because, and
Donna B. 25:44
there also, what's also happened with, with the growth and pet cremation, are all the options that are available to pet parents. So you have so many different options, memorialization options, everything from jewelry to, you know, you know, having glass orbs made, or, you know, paint, you know, just if you want to be able to do a burial in your, you know, in your yard, or with a garden stone, you can actually pick up and take with you. So there's so many options. There's so many eco friendly options available now too, as well. So, you know, with with cremation, it just kind of opened up such a world of being able to memorialize your pet in so many different ways and really give you give pet parents options
26:32
that they hadn't had before.
Collin 26:33
Yeah, and I don't if many times, like for me, if I see a large number of options, there's kind of like this paralysis that sets in. But I think in this instance, it really is an ability for a pet owner to choose exactly what they need or what they would want their pet to have, and really personalize that to the person, and allows them to take more agency, I guess, too, over that decision and how they want it to look
Donna B. 27:03
right. And it really helps in the again, the grieving process, because when you've been able to make those choices and make those decisions, you feel more comfortable and comfortable in knowing that you did what was best for your pet. And that helps with the grieving process, versus if you just leave your pet at the vet, and you leave and you have no idea what happened, where they go, they're just taking care of which that used to be the norm in the past. And so even, you know, our veterinarian hospitals, there's so much more in tune to this. There's so much more in tune to the euthanasia process, the effects that it has on pet parents and the, you know, giving the pet parent options and giving them time to process that, and educating them there within the vet hospital of what you know their decisions are and their options. And then, you know, the pet parent can make those decisions and feel, you know, feel like that. They know the process and what's happening. And you know, again, choosing one of our members that's part of the our association and part of the standards and best practices that we set that's huge for them because of the trust factor. And they can also, you know, whether they, you know, go with the hospital's recommendations, or they research it themselves, which I always encourage pet parents to do prior. So if you have an idea within your community, you know, you go ahead and research who you would like to use. You can make pre need arrangements with members, and you know so that when the time comes, you already have a process set up for your baby, and you know what's going to happen and that that any and you get to know the you know, the the member that's there within your community, the facility that's there that gives you a lot of comfort to when you know who's going to be taking care of your poor
Collin 28:52
baby, you know. And a lot of people delay, you know that that ultimate decision of whether to move forward, you know, whether to to have an end of life, or sometimes they have to make that decision, you know, and I know a lot of people delay that, because there's obviously an emotion and they don't want to make that decision. Sometimes, though, there's this blockage, because there's they have no information on the other side. So it's a, it's a, I need, I'm delaying this because there's a whole lot of unknown on this. And it's a beautiful gift as a, you know, as a pet sitter, as a community member, to be able to give that to one of our clients to go, hey, here that can I help you plan with this? Let me get you connected to these amazing resources so that you can just take that off the table, and then they have a lot more peace about that decision, and they can, you know, again, you mentioned that a couple times now, of help with the grieving process. They're not then also having to be stressed out about all of these other unknowns. It's just a way to make that a lot more healthy for for everybody involved,
29:50
right, right? Yeah, and and
Donna B. 29:52
again, it's something that noone really wants to think about, but at the time that it happens, there will be. Be they'll be glad that they already know, and they've already educated themselves on it, because you're so emotional at the time, and then you can feel comfortable, comfortable in knowing that you you can trust who's going to, you know, who's going to be taking care of your baby, the care that they're going to be in. You've
Collin 30:18
mentioned a couple times now about being, being self regulated, and you know, the standards that you're setting. Why? Why do you believe that that's necessary? Well, because
Donna B. 30:28
there's no, you know, guidelines that are out there. It's so important, as I mentioned earlier, you know, unfortunately, you know, there, really, there's, there's, there's those that are bad players within the industry are, there's those that just have no idea that maybe they're not doing things the right way, or those there's a better way to do things. So it's so important to align yourself with an association that kind of get you that can give you those guidelines, they can be there to support you in helping to, you know, make those decisions or setting up practices or guidelines for your business so that you are actually offering the very best services. And so the the regulation itself, unfortunately, you know, we all hear the horror stories that appear on the news, and unfortunately, you know, you kind of get, you know, dumped into that's everyone in in the industry, which is not the case, but those are the ones that you hear about. You know, you don't always hear about the great ones
Collin 31:27
well. And it's a reminder, too, of the difference between regulations born out of passion versus regulations born out of punishment. And I think many times we look at the industry and we look at what regulations have come down, right? Oh, it's because there was a big backlash, a reaction against a horrible incident. And those look very different. They feel very different than an internal industry best practice of this is because we love this so much and because we love pets and we love people. Here's how we want to get ahead of this, versus always this reactionary response to these, these news events that we see, and we're horrified by them, right? And we always say, oh, I want to do something, but I think it's, it's important, and behold, it on us to go, or, you know, for you guys to go. Let's start with, with us first, and let's work this out, because the last thing I want is somebody in a far flung, you know, state capital or federal capital, or, you know, whatever, capital, not understanding what we do or the intricacies here, and just being purely reactionary and almost punishing the people involved.
Donna B. 32:35
Right, right? So true, because so often, you know, people have good intentions and they want to do the right thing. But if you're not a part of the industry, and understand the industry and know what, you know, what pet parents are looking for and expecting and and you know, the the the best practices for the industry, you know you can't really, necessarily make those decisions. So you know, for us, it's all about being ahead and making sure that we are, you know, the first one to look at regulations and make those suggestions and set those guidelines and standards. And, you know, one of the things that we're very keen on is, you know, having a Model law that, you know, we have set and established for, you know, anyone that's looking for guidelines. So we
Speaker 2 33:27
have had, you know, different
Donna B. 33:31
lawsuits within states. You know, for example, in New York, there was a huge lawsuit, and it involved the oldest Pet Cemetery in America, which is harpsdale Pet Cemetery and and they have been a member of ours since the very beginning. And there was a lawsuit because a pet parent wanted to be buried alongside their pet and there were, you know, there were regulations that were involved within New York and the cemeteries themselves and what they would allow and not allow. And so, because of the lawsuit, we were actually able to come alongside Hartsdale pet cemetery and help them educate the lawmakers there and allow for pet parents to be buried alongside their pet. Now, their cremated remains buried alongside their pet. But it was so important, because this was important to those pet parents, they wanted to be with their pet. And so those are instances where we've actually worked with state of lawmakers and tried to help guide the process and get, you know, the the information that they needed to be able to make good, sound decisions.
34:46
That's, I really encouraging to hear, right, that
Collin 34:49
that kind of level of interaction, because that was actually my next follow up question was, you know, what's your involvement? What's, what's your involvement with, like, you know, with these agencies, with regulators, or, you know, do you have conversations? Conversations with them, because, you know, many times they don't know even where to turn and what's available and what's out there. And so to be to to be able to sit down and have those conversations, to be connected in that way, that's just really powerful, right? That's really encouraging, you know, as a member of yours, to be able to go, Yes, I have this backing me, and I have these people who can come and not not in a lawyer sense, but in an educational sense, like as representatives of the industry, that's much more impactful than I think a lot of people would would even understand, yeah, historically,
Donna B. 35:31
just for your listeners to know, historically, you know, really all pet cremation and even cemeteries, it really revolved around whatever the regulations are with the Agricultural Department within your community. And so that's really where pet cemeteries and cremation guidelines are really held to. And so you know, that's really the only regulation, and it doesn't, it's not necessarily, obviously the best regulations to to, you know, to be able to look at. So there's far more beyond that, but that's historically, where it's it lies. And so that's why it's so important for us to be very active with, you know, state lawmakers that are looking to make changes. Or there's a again, you know, a terrible scenario that happens, and we want to make sure it never happens again. And so that's where we're we're able to come alongside and help, you know, make those decisions, yeah, because
Collin 36:32
if you have regulations that are really designed, designed around, you know, farm animals, or, you know, chickens and cows and horses and stuff and how they are disposed of and how they are cared for afterwards, that is a, I would think of rather bit of a mismatch, right? And so having all these, like, power outs and caveats and parentheses around, but for dogs and cats, or for like, but for also like, for, you know, for pets that is just feels like a way of just having to consistent, constantly come in and and make those clear delineations and those clear definitions too,
Speaker 2 37:04
right? Yep, exactly. Well. So, Donna, if people
Collin 37:08
are interested in finding out who that your accredited members are, how do they go about finding that list and getting connected with
Donna B. 37:18
them? I actually can visit our website, which is www.iaopc.com, and on our website, there's a member section, and that's a members directory. You can look it up by state, by country, and see which members are. You know, within your geographical area,
Collin 37:36
awesome. And if people want to get connected with the Association, if they have questions, if they want to get involved in some way, or you know, or just, you know, be, be, be partners and allies in that. How best can they do that?
37:48
Well, you can
Donna B. 37:50
give our office here a call at 1-800-952-5541, and we'd love to talk with you and answer any questions that you have, and you know, just be able to have a discussion on what's important in pet aftercare.
Collin 38:05
Awesome. Well, I will have both those links and that phone call phone number in the show notes and on our website, Donna, so people can get connected and started learning more about this really, really important aspect of the pet industry. I'm, I'm so thankful for your time today, Donna, and coming out and sharing this and sharing your passion for this as well. It's been an immense pleasure, and I'm so thankful for you. Thank you so much.
Donna B. 38:28
Thank you so much. Collin, I appreciate the opportunity. It's good to talk
38:31
with you. My conversation
Collin 38:32
with Donna was truly eye opening, both from the perspective of what goes all into the pet aftercare, but also how it is a completely and totally unregulated industry, just like dog walking and pet sitting. And I absolutely loved when she pointed out that the biggest factor that they have within their own industry is trust, and that it's so important that the person trust who they are dropping their pet off with how true for us as well. It really got us thinking about what it means to build trust in an unregulated industry and all of the hurdles that are facing us as it continues to grow and expand. More and more people enter the industry, more and more people look to dog walking and pet sitting as a legitimate thing. But where does that trust come from? Do we just hope that it happens, or do we work as an industry to build that and make that a foundation of who we are and how we operate? That will be a major hurdle for the industry over the coming years, and the really wonderful thing is, is that every single one of us has a voice in that process. Join organizations, both local, state, national, international, join them. Show up, contribute, be a part of that process and help start that conversation. It's more critical than ever that we as an industry. Me get down to the business of doing this. We want to thank today's sponsors tied to pet and the peaceful pet music, Collin music with pets on YouTube channel, for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening and showing up and being here. It means so much. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon. Happy.
