New product:

New website offers help
for grieving pet owners

ON October 5, 2007, www.ourfamilycompanion.com officially launched its new online memorial community dedicated to sharing and preserving the wonderful memories of pets that have been loved and lost.

Like most online memorial sites, Ourfamilycompanion.com features a variety of options for easily creating memorials. Pet owners can add stories, graphical backgrounds and photographs. They can create a photo gallery and slideshow, and then send special e-cards inviting friends to view their pet’s memorial pages. People can also share in the grieving and healing process of losing a pet with others through the grief forum. But what really makes the site unique and fresh is that it’s the only place on the web where you can turn your online memorial into a permanent DVD keepsake that is professionally produced by the video department, packaged in a personalized DVD case and shipped to your door.

The creation process is a breeze for any user and allows for customization. The website’s design team implemented an easy-to-use, interactive platform which lets people upload all their favorite photos to the website. They can then arrange them in any order, select background music from our library and even add heartfelt messages to be integrated into their video. Users have the ability to personalize their keepsake further, by picking the design of their case cover and adding a story about their family companion to it. And unlike photo books that tend to sit on a shelf with pictures that fade over time, these video keepsakes let pet owners vividly relive all the cherished moments of days gone by, simply by popping it in any DVD player.

Ourfamilycompanion.com is excited about bringing this to the millions of pet owners around the world for many reasons. First and foremost, being owned and operated by a family of pet lovers and rescuers, they honestly believe that pets should be remembered, for all the unconditional love and companionship they bring to our lives day after day and year after year.

Second, as stated before, there’s no other site currently on the web offering a video keepsake creation service like this. And since the owners’ primary business has been creating similar keepsakes for funeral homes to show during visitation and funeral services, they understand how helpful such a piece can be to the immediate grieving process everyone goes through, whether it’s pet owners or family members. These videos are also a wonderful way for people to revisit the fondest memories of a lost loved one.

In fact, the first Family Companion DVD was created as a gift for a close friend of the owners, who had to put down their dog Spanky, due to old age and mounting health issues. “What they did for us has been very healing,” said Vicki Ruttmann. “We loved that dog so much and to be able to see him in color on our big screen TV is... just heartwarming.”

Ultimately, the response from their friend Vicki and her friends she shared it with, led the owners to develop Ourfamilycompanion.com so they, in-turn could offer the same comfort and healing for pet lovers everywhere.

To find out more about the service or to comment or inquire, email: comments@ourfamilycompanion.com