IT'S always a sad time when your pet dies, but a business which opened this summer is ensuring owners say goodbye in the best possible way.

The pet crematorium, Pets at Peace, opened in Whitehaven in July and serves pet owners throughout Cumbria.

More than 50 cremations have taken place to date and the personal service has left customers very impressed, with the business getting very good reviews.

Jeanne Park, and her partner, Stephen run the independent crematorium and Jeanne said: "We offer a very personal dignified service with guaranteed individual cremations. We tailor our service to pet owner’s individual needs and personal requests.

"We offer a collection service from owner’s homes, or vet’s practices. We collect pets at any time as we know not all pets die between 9am and 5pm. Pet owners can also bring their pets themselves to the crematorium if desired.

"Pets will be always treated with dignity and care and are transported and handled the way we would handle our own pets, with the utmost love and respect.

"We only ever transport one pet at any one time and we will never put pets in plastic bags – they are carefully placed in a comfortable pet bed."

Jeanne said the crematorium had a tranquil farewell room, used as a quiet place for owners to spend as long as they wished, to say their final farewell. Owners can choose their own music to be played if they wish.

"Pets remain with us at all times and are cremated within the premises – as opposed to being taken out of the county to other larger industrial scale crematoriums with other waste," she said.

"Owners can view the start of the procedure if desired, for peace of mind that only their pet is being cremated. We have a large selection of caskets and keepsakes owners can choose.

"We guarantee that ashes are returned to owners within two days, and they are solely those of their pet."

The crematorium is DEFRA approved, with all the necessary licences/permissions and has zero smoke and odour emissions.

Jeanne said when the time came for people to say goodbye to their beloved pet, they should be able to have a choice in their funeral service, hopefully planned before the time comes.

She added: "It is a last act of kindness we can do for our companions. After all, they have provided us with their unconditional love all their lives."