We all love our pets, but there are people who are willing to beg, borrow, and steal to give their pets the same dignity usually afforded only to human beings. 

As a former dog bakery employee, I know firsthand that people will spend big bucks on luxury items for their dogs and cats. They will buy birthday cakes for their dogs that cost just as much as a human birthday cake, even though their dog has no sense of when their birthday is or the significance of that date. One time, while working the cash register, a woman came in and told me that she ran a dog funeral parlor. I had no idea how to respond to this admission, so I just said, «I’m sorry.» If that wasn’t baffling enough, she said in response, «Well, someone’s got to do it.» At the time, all I could think was, «No, someone doesn’t have to do it. That sounds like an industry with a lot of demand behind it.» But boy howdy, was I wrong. Turns out, lots of people are willing to pay top-dollar for a pet funeral.