Vansant-Mills Funeral Home in Clinton began offering pet cremations four years ago after putting in a human as well as a pet crematorium. Last year they served 350 pet families with their services. The business offers minimum containers for cremated pets and a wide variety of caskets and memorials. There has been some talk about making a place in human cemeteries for pet burials, but it is not presently available in the area.
“A couple of years ago, a state law was enacted to make pet cemeteries possible, but it is expensive to do,” said Curtis Mills, owner of Vansant-Mills Funeral Home. “The nearest pet cemeteries are in Kansas City or Springfield. About 10 years ago we had requests for pet burial spots, and we transported pet cremains to Sedalia.”
Mills said that his local funeral home can cremate pets weighing up to 300 pounds and the funeral home has cremated pets such as goldfish, turtles, guinea pigs, a mini horse, cats, dogs, a snake and birds. Kansas City can cremate larger animals such as horses. He said that his business does private cremations too and the pet families can have those cremains back, or if they don’t take them back the cremains are buried on the Mills family farm and names can be placed on their burial site.
Mills was born and raised in the Vansant-Mills Funeral Home. He purchased the business from his dad 13 years ago and only two families have owned it since it began in 1938. He is a 1993 graduate of Clinton High School who earned his associate degree in Funeral Science from Kansas City Kansas Community College. He became a licensed funeral director and embalmer and worked his way up the ladder from funeral director to General Manager of four funeral homes, two cemeteries and a crematory in the Kansas City market. In 2008, he moved back to Clinton where he worked with his father, David, until he bought the business.
Mills’ wife, Shelley Mills, is co-owner of the funeral home. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Missouri State University and an associates degree in Funeral Science from Arkansas State University Mountain Home. She has been working in the funeral home business since she was 16 years old. She too is a licensed funeral director and embalmer.
