Pet mortician in S’pore, 25, comforts bereaved & helps beloved pets to ‘rainbow bridge’

We were led upstairs by staff at Mobile Pet Cremation Service into a small, window-lit room.

Buddhist chants thrummed on a speaker. Standing just by the door, a woman had her hands clasped in prayer.

In the middle of the room, softly illuminated by daylight, was a large table primly decorated with little porcelain cats, flickering electric candles and dried flower bouquets.

At a corner of the table was a framed photo of a scruffy tabby with the words, “Marble" and "2003 - 24/08/24”:

Laid out on the centre of the table was Marble herself, shrouded in a blanket of flowers, her head resting on a circle of joss paper.

Looking up close, you could be forgiven for thinking Marble was simply asleep.

Marble peacefully passed away at the age of 20, her owner explained, as she began to fold little pieces of orange joss paper.

“Do you think that one looks okay?” she asked, as she gingerly placed one of the folded pieces on the table with Marble.

Feeling that it might not be perfect, she began to refold it:

Just behind Marble’s owner was the incinerator, slightly ajar, where the cat's remains would later be burnt.

It was hard to take it all in, even as a mere bystander.

Such proceedings, however, are routine for the morticians at Mobile Pet.

Marble’s owner, a cat fosterer, is a regular of Mobile Pet’s services. She told us that she knew the staff there well, and trusted them.

“They are good people,” she assured us.

How I found out about Mobile Pet

Marble's funeral isn't my first experience with pet cremations.

In fact, I first found out about Mobile Pet months ago when they performed a cremation service for my family.

Sometime in early April, my mother was headed home from work when she chanced upon a stray cat at the void deck of our residential block.

A week later, my mother found the cat again at the same void deck, this time severely unwell, dehydrated and injured.

Several other residents speculated that the cat might have been someone's abandoned pet.

My mother brought the cat up to our house, before transporting it to an emergency veterinary service. The cat stayed at the clinic for a few days.

A veterinarian told us that the cat was on the road to recovery.

My mother briefly fancied adopting the cat, and affectionately called her "Toffee".

A few days later, the vets called us to let us know that Toffee's condition had taken a turn for the worse, and that the most humane course of action would be to put her down.

At about 11pm on a Sunday night, the both of us took a Grab down to the clinic to find Toffee placed in an oxygenated box.

Toffee turned around and briefly looked at us as we walked into the room where she was being treated.

She looked fairly calm and peaceful. I could even feel a very gentle purr as I petted her.

The veterinarian told us, however, that she had little to no chance of making it.

After spending some time with Toffee, my mother and I watched as a veterinarian explained to us how Toffee would be euthanised, and then proceeded to put her down.

We had known Toffee for a very short period of time, but the experience was enough to make us grieve.

Mobile Pet Cremation Service

Later that night, my mother received a call from Mobile Pet Cremation Service.

Mobile Pet staff said they had picked up Toffee's body from the veterinarian clinic and had prepared the body for cremation.

They offered my mother words of condolences and assured her that they would take care of Toffee. My mother shared with me that the person who spoke to her over the phone made her feel at ease.

Later, my mother was sent photos of Toffee surrounded by yellow flowers. She was deeply touched, and struck by how much care had been put into decorating Toffee's body.

One of those photos is still framed up on the wall next to my mother's bed.

Till Toffee's passing, I had never given much thought to the service provided by morticians to the bereaved.

Perhaps this is because death is an uncomfortable and slightly taboo topic, or perhaps because I have never wanted to think about the inevitable passing on of loved ones, including my pets.

All the same, morticians handle death in droves. They speak to us at our most emotionally vulnerable and give us the means to find closure.

My experience with Toffee made me want to find out more about the work that pet morticians do, and how they deal with our grief and loss.

A 24/7 business

It was hard to find time to speak to Darryl Huan amidst his busy schedule.

After all, staff at Mobile Pet can handle up to ten cremations on a busy day, with the phone ringing for appointments at least once or twice an hour.

"On certain days you'll be very busy, certain days will be very quiet," Huan explained.

Huan, a 25-year-old permanent resident in Singapore who previously lived in Malaysia, doubles as a mortician and a specialist driver.

This means that he doesn’t just operate the cremation services at the facility, but also helps with the transport of remains to and from the centre.

"We will normally either be doing some pickup service from home for picking up the pets, or sending those urns back to the owners," he said.

Sometimes the drivers pick up carcasses from veterinary clinics too.

From time to time, Huan is tapped on to transport live animals, in the event there are no other vehicles equipped for pet transportation.

Moreover, since Mobile Pet’s services are available 24/7, including on holidays, Huan sometimes works night shifts.

The job can get physically taxing at times, especially when handling larger animals like bigger dogs. "Those are more heavy, significantly heavier. So usually more people [are required] to help," Huan said.

Always putting on a smile

When we arrived at Mobile Pet's facility located at the Animal Lodge at Sungei Tengah Road, Huan had just finished preparations for a cremation taking place later in the day.

Huan then brought us to a room where a table had been laid out with white cloth and canine-themed decorations:

Flowers were placed in a small box at one end of the table for the client to use:

There was also a small clipboard with a pen for the bereaved to write farewell letters:

Huan mentioned that clients can bring additional flowers or even their pets' favourite toys to be cremated too.

"So normally, after we bring them in [to the room], they spend some time. Then when they are ready, normally, they will just let us know," Huan explained.

After the cremation, clients will also be able to pick the bones they would like to be put into the urn, should they wish to do so.

"It's like a wholesome moment for them lah, you know, being able to see their pet go into the incinerator, and also to see the bones individually being packed into the urn," Huan said.

Huan shared with us that some clients can be more difficult than others to deal with — some have very specific requests about how they want their beloved pets to be cremated, while others can get highly emotional.

"But we always try to still put on a smile and also don't make it like they are too demanding... they just want what's best for their pets," he added.

Huan said, however, that he ultimately enjoys the process of interacting with clients: "I love interacting with clients, especially when they have stories to share with us."

Huan later showed us some of the little tokens and remembrances sold by Mobile Pet.

These include necklaces with hourglasses to hold ashes, and doghouse-shaped urns with photoframes.

We were also shown an intimate keepsake; a paw print on a clay mould:

Managing stress

Huan didn't know his job involved pet cremation when he first applied to Mobile Pet in April 2022.

"I just saw the poster, and that they were looking for a pet transport specialist. So I just applied for the job, because I do love pets," Huan explained.

He later found out during his job interview that he would be working in a pet cremation company.

Huan told us he was hesitant during the first two days he started working at Mobile Pet. "Initially, it was a little bit hard for me, but eventually I pulled through," he said.

Staff at Mobile Pet thus help each other through the emotional stresses of the job. "We do have a little bit of small talk, just to, you know, keep everyone going, to not have so much stress," Huan shared.

While in his van, Huan also plays music sometimes to take his mind off the job.

"We try not to have too much stress, because if we are stressed, the clients will be more stressed also," he added.

From heavy machinery to animal carcasses

Prior to joining the pet cremation industry, Huan worked as a technician at a company that services heavy machinery.

"Normally, on a daily basis, we are always covered in grease and all those weird stuff that you will see at those plants," he said.

While it may seem like quite a change of profession, Huan said that his experience as a technician has helped him with working with animal carcasses.

"After [the animals] pass on, they usually will release some pee from them, or maybe some poop that was going to come out. It's quite a common sight to see them in that state. For me, you just bring them in, then you just wash your hands.

It's just the same as doing those, like, technician jobs lah. We don't think of them as like, oh, it's dirty. But we more or less think of them as, okay, this is a family member of someone, so we have to still treat them with respect and also with love."

Listening to the bereaved

The mortician's job is more than just about going through the motions of the cremation process, though.

Huan shared with us, for instance, that the job can involve listening to the bereaved as they come to terms with their loss.

Some clients even share anecdotes and stories about their pets during the cremation process:

"One of the clients... shared some happy moments they had, and they said, 'Oh, my dog is very obedient. He has never barked at strangers. He always is very quiet. He always comes to me.'"

Sometimes, the clients open up to the morticians about their pets' struggles with cancer, or other life-threatening diseases.

A little later in the afternoon, several clients began to arrive at the cremation centre, including a family of five with their deceased dog.

We watched from a distance as the family, teary-eyed, was immediately attended to by staff, including Huan, who guided them through the facility with warm, patient, and welcoming smiles.

"Crossing the rainbow bridge"

Despite having handled numerous cremations, Huan shared that he still finds the process emotionally challenging.

"Sometimes, when you help the clients with the cremation, you will also feel their grief. You can feel their pain, that they are not ready to let go... we also can sense that they are going through a lot, so normally we try to hold our tears lah, but there are moments that are so sad, right, that we ended up joining them with the tears coming down also."

Before, during, and even after the cremation, Huan himself will also need to speak to clients to help them work through their grief, and approach closure.

"Normally we will give encouraging words, be it during the cremation process or after the cremation is done... to make them feel easier, so that it's not so painful for them to hold on to such sad memories, but rather to hold on to those more cherishable, memorable memories lah," he explained.

Huan added that some clients are uplifted by the process:

"The most rewarding part is seeing those grieving customers smile after the cremation like, you know, it's not to say, 'be happy', but it's more to be able to feel relaxed knowing that their pet has crossed the rainbow bridge and is no longer in suffering and in pain, and to already feel that their pet is in a better place."

Remembering Toffee

Sitting in the Grab car as it drove out of the cremation centre, I couldn't help but think about Toffee again.

Toffee was alone and in all likelihood abandoned. If not in life, my family wanted to at least treat her remains with respect and care.

Having spoken to Huan, I felt a bit more assured that Toffee was in good hands.

I still sometimes wonder if Toffee is waiting for us at the rainbow bridge Huan spoke of, or if she is perhaps waiting to cross with her previous owners. We had only known Toffee for a few days after all.

All the same, her urn still sits in a corner of my mother's bedroom. On occasion, our own cat sits beside it and rubs her face all over it.

Top photo by Tharun Suresh