About Us
About Mayo Pet Crematorium
My name is Niall Curran, and I am a practicing small animal vet. I have been based in Castlebar, Co. Mayo for seventeen years. Since 2001, as many veterinary practices in this area do, my practice has used an existing pet cremation service based in the East of the country. While I had every confidence in the company carrying out our client’s pet cremations over this period, it appeared to me that there was one major unavoidable limitation of this service: it took too long. I always felt that for many of my grieving clients, the fact that it took several weeks for their pet’s remains to return was an unfortunate feature of the service.
Some four years ago I started to look into setting up an alternative to this service based in Connaught, which could meet a local demand for pet cremation services in a way that could be less subject to the limitations of geography. Obtaining the necessary planning permissions and certification took a lot longer than anticipated, but has now culminated in the establishment of our cremation facility Mayo Pet Crematorium, which I am proud to stand over.
I feel strongly that as a practicing vet, qualified since 1991, I have an insight into the pain and anguish that pet owners go through at the time of the loss of their companions, and the significance that their pet’s remains hold for them. I approach the provision of this service with the same care, gravity, and attention to detail with which I would approach the planning and execution of a difficult surgery on a client’s pet. I would also hope to bring the experience that I have gained over 15 years of running my own business to bear on the efficiency of this service.
As a family, we are proud to operate the crematorium from our home. I feel this makes this service private, personal and intimate in a way that is unique for a service of this kind in Ireland at the present time. The process of cremation itself is basically an industrial process (it involves strictly controlled burning in a machine). We feel that the location of the crematorium in a beautiful rural setting helps make the process feel a little less industrial and a little more personal.