TENNERTON – People who must part with their beloved pets before those four-legged family members cross the Rainbow Bridge may find some small comfort in the services supplied by a new business along Route 20, the Mountain State Pet Crematory.
The Buckhannon-Upshur Chamber of Commerce welcomed the Mountain State Pet Crematory with an official ribbon cutting Friday, June 4.
Jonathan Clutter, owner of Mountain State Pet Crematory, said he decided to open the business because he witnessed a genuine need for one like it firsthand. Clutter, the owner of Clutter Funeral & Cremation in Tennerton, often encountered customers and other people in the community in search of crematory services for their late pets.
“Just the thought of all the families asking us if we could provide this service and repetitively telling those families, ‘We’re sorry, but we can’t offer that,’” Clutter said Friday of his decision to open the pet crematory. “The loss of a loved one comes with being in the funeral business, and you never tell a family you can’t do something for them, so after telling so many families you’re sorry, but you can’t help them and you have to send them somewhere else, we decided we wanted to offer a service locally to all the people in our area.”
“We could not only help those families that we serve in our other business, but we can serve people here at the pet crematory as well,” Clutter added.
Clutter said the pet crematory will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“You can contact us after hours as well. We cover eight counties, so we want people to know it’s not just for Upshur County – we cover Upshur County, Lewis County, Randolph County, Barbour County, Webster County, Gilmer County, Braxton County and part of Nicholas County,” Clutter said. “We’re going to offer full pickups, whether it be at the home or the vets’ offices; we’ll offer obituaries on our website; and we offer all kinds of cremation products for pets, which include urns, necklaces, headstones and so forth.”
Representative for Republican Alex Mooney, R-2, Rhett Dusenbury, read a letter from the congressman in support of the new business.
“Your new business will provide the citizens of Upshur County with an option for their beloved pets’ final disposition, while providing much-needed jobs to local citizens with the pandemic changing our lives and our economy,” Dusenbury read. “I thank you for giving your county an example that our dreams of business ownership are still alive and attainable, while providing pet owners with an option during this painful time in their lives.”
West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History Curator Randall Reid-Smith read a letter from Governor Jim Justice, expressing how important their services will be.
“This business is certain to make an incredible addition to the State of West Virginia, by serving eight counties, the Mountain State Pet Crematory will help guide families through the distressing experience of losing a household pet,” Reid-Smith read. “If you know me, then you know that my pets are an enormous part of my family. I know from experience just how difficult and consuming the stress of making these arrangements can be.”
“I’m very proud to see a business opening to assist the many West Virginians who will experience this kind of loss,” the letter concluded.
For more information, contact Mountain State Pet Crematory at 304-472-7297.
