A Free Pet Memorial Builder Puts Grief Care on the Pet Industry's Map

Funerals and memorial services give human loss a script. Pet loss mostly has none, even though 97% of pet owners say their pets are part of the family, according to the Pew Research Center. Jasper, a two-year-old grief support community, launched The Forever Space for Pet Memorial Month as a free memorial builder anyone can use.

Jasper launches The Forever Space as a free memorial builder

The Forever Space lets anyone build a page for a pet with photos, stories, and details, then invite family and friends to add their own. Memorials can be public or private, can be updated at any time, and do not require a Jasper membership. The loss can be recent or decades old.

Britta Mulderrig founded Jasper in 2024 after her dog, Jasper, died. "When a person dies, we have rituals, like funerals, memorials, and places to gather and remember," she said. "When a pet dies, those rituals aren't built into our culture in the same way."

The paid side of Jasper offers a moderated peer community, live support groups, one-on-one grief coaching, and guided practices. Its clinical bench includes Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Sarah Hoggan and advisor Dr. Robert Neimeyer, a grief researcher and professor emeritus at the University of Memphis.

Jasper says it has passed 1,000 members, almost entirely through word of mouth, and that roughly three in four active members contribute every month. Partners include Best Friends Animal Society, Rising Starr Horse Rescue, Trees for Pets, and Ever After.

Pet loss is the moment most of the industry skips

For most pet businesses, the relationship with a family ends when the animal does. Veterinary clinics are often there for the last appointment and rarely hear from the family again. Food subscriptions and insurance policies usually record the loss as a cancellation.

Jasper is built around the opposite idea. The missing rituals Mulderrig describes are the gap, and The Forever Space is a simple answer to it, a place to gather photos and stories and let the people who knew the pet add their own. Making it free, with no membership required, keeps it open to anyone who needs it, whether the loss happened last week or decades ago.

Dr. Hoggan describes a loss that reaches past the animal to "routines, companionship, and sense of purpose." Those daily routines are the same ones most pet businesses are built around. That is part of why grief deserves more of the industry's attention than it gets.

The engagement figures suggest the need is real. A community where most active members contribute every month, built almost entirely on word of mouth, is one people are choosing to come back to. Those figures are company-reported, and the community is still young. That level of participation usually means people are finding something they could not find anywhere else.

Clinics and aftercare providers are the natural next step

The next thing to watch is whether the people already present at the end start pointing families toward resources like this. Veterinary hospital groups, cremation services, and aftercare providers see grieving owners every day, and many have little to offer beyond a sympathy card. A free memorial page is an easy thing to share.

Jasper's paid support (peer groups, live sessions, and one-on-one coaching) sits alongside the free memorial for owners who want more help. How the two connect over time will shape the business, and the free tool appears designed with grieving owners in mind.

For an industry built around the life of a pet, the end of it deserves the same care.

Source: Jasper announcement

This news brief is based on a company-submitted announcement. The Underbite verifies claims where possible but cannot independently confirm all details.