Floyd “Mack” McClure, owner of the Foothill Memorial Gardens pet cemetery in Los Altos, California, has always been motivated by compassion. He remembers a hit-and-run driver that killed his pet collie when he was a boy and how he buried his dog on the family property. The experience made him think that there might be a need for pet cemeteries to give thanks to a pet by burying it with dignity instead of disposing it in a garbage can. However, most pets are discarded at rendering plants, where their body parts are repurposed, according to Mike Koewler, a rendering plant operator. Mack has buried snakes, rats, chickens, monkeys, hamsters, mice, all kinds of rodents, and dogs and cats, at his cemetery. He contends that it does not matter what kind of animal he services because if it was loved in life, it should have a proper burial. Mack remembers helping a neighbor’s son when his pet lamb died. Although the boy’s father called the rendering company, the boy asked Mack if he could bury his lamb next to Mack’s collie and they interred the lamb two hours before the rendering company arrived. In another story, a family’s pet cat accidentally ended up in the clothes dryer, and at the service, Mack gave a eulogy for the animal that explained how a loved pet returns to nature. Mike, the rendering plant operator, acknowledges that many people are bothered by the idea of rendering an animal without actually seeing what goes on at his plant. One of the reasons Mack started a pet cemetery is to provide an alternative to the violent way in which the remains of animals are discarded. Mike said the zoo called him when its elephant died and his company received many protest calls from the public. However, Mike has an agreement with the zoo not to divulge their relationship. The San Francisco Examiner reports that pets have to be exhumed from Mack’s cemetery when he loses the support of his investors. As bulldozers dig out the graves, pet owner Mrs. Lucille Billingsley is horrified that her dog’s grave had to be moved. The Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park in Napa, California, is able to absorb more than 400 pets from Mack’s Foothill Memorial Gardens. Calvin Harberts and his two sons, Dan and Phillip, work together at Bubbling Wells. Dan admires his father’s business acumen because he has fostered relationships with many of the veterinarians in town and Phillip has already thought about opening up similar cemeteries in cities such as Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington. The senior Harbert comments that all creatures should be accepted into the gates of heaven, not just two-legged ones. As the brothers pick up and prepare the animals for burial, Phillip realizes that his father will retire at some point, but for now, Calvin has ambitions to make Bubbling Wells the best pet cemetery in the country. Calvin remarks that one of the more interesting features in the cemetery is the Garden of Honor, which was created to bury seeing-eye dogs or police dogs killed in the line of duty at no cost. He is also proud of the manmade lakes that break up the monotony of all the headstones. A scan of some animal headstones reflects the affection that owners have for their pets. Calvin comforts pet owners with the thought that they will be reunited with their pets someday because it gives them hope.