Local retail giant Pet Lovers Centre establishes joint venture with pet crematorium Mandai Pets Sanctuary

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 4 January 2023 - Pet Lovers Centre (PLC), the first and largest pet care retail chain in Singapore and Southeast Asia, has announced a joint venture with the first pet crematorium and columbarium in Singapore – Mandai Pets Sanctuary (MPS), broadening their suite of services for pet parents. With a smokeless and odourless cremation facility, a memorial garden and columbarium, MPS will provide grieving pet owners with a tranquil space to send their pets off with respect and dignity.

MPS occupies the former Nee Soon Post Office building along Mandai Road, which has, in the past, served the community for decades. The two-storey colonial-style post office building, with traces of its history still present within the compound, is one of Singapore's earliest post offices in the 1800s and is located in the Springleaf vicinity. In June 2022, the Urban Redevelopment Authority shared plans to conserve parts of the building.

This strategic investment in MPS will further strengthen PLC's standing as an all-encompassing pet business, which currently includes supplies for pets of all ages, pet health services, grooming centres, pet boarding and transportation, dog training classes, a dog bakery and animal-interest publication – Pets Magazine. The synergies of this new joint venture are expected to lead to a 20% increase in revenue in MPS in 2023.

"Our extensive experience in the pet industry lends us a deeper and keen understanding of the needs of pet parents. With our synergistic joint venture with MPS, PLC is looking beyond offering products and accessories that enhance a pet's life and the basic services that furkids require, like pet boarding, grooming, relocation and transportation. This next step in our journey with MPS extends our suite of services to meet the entire spectrum of pet ownership needs from cradle to grave. MPS has been a trusted and professional pet crematorium since 1987, and we look forward to working with them to further elevate the exceptional level of care and support to bereaved loved ones as they bid farewell to their beloved pets, in a respectable and deserving way as part of the family," said Ng Whye Hoe, Group Managing Director of PLC. "We are also honoured to be a part of Singapore's heritage with MPS being housed in the former Nee Soon Post Office, providing customers and visitors a sense of nostalgia and tranquillity against a backdrop of lush greenery."

Key features

The PLC-MPS joint venture will offer the following thoughtfully designed services to ensure a modern, respectful and comforting experience.

• A 24-hour careline service, islandwide pickup service and round-the-clock safeguarding service will ensure the late pet's smooth journey – starting from a home or a veterinary office, all the way to cremation.

• Private and individual pet cremation services will ensure that each pet will get a dignified farewell, and a dedicated Send-Off Lobby with wake and prayer services will allow pet owners to have full privacy and comfort to spend the last moments with their pets before cremation.

• Post-cremation, pet parents can choose from urn or keepsake options to commemorate and remember their late pets. Different urn designs, as well as columbarium niches, are available for selection. Other unique options include separate dog and cat columbariums, common burial ground services and sea scattering arrangements. In addition, there are future plans to offer combination or family niches for pet parents with multiple pets.

• Using a QR code system on columbarium niches, pet parents can commemorate their pets after their passing by curating an album of photos and videos. Family members and visitors who visit the columbarium will also be able to scan the code to view these memories.

• A Memorial Garden, with a serene and comforting atmosphere, will offer pet parents a dedicated space to mourn the loss of their pets before and after the cremation, or during their visits to the columbarium.

For more information, visit www.mandaipetssanctuary.com.