Good Shepherd Pet Services

What Good Shepherd Pet Services does

Good Shepherd Pet Services is a privately held pet cremation and memorial services company founded in 1998 by Charles Crook, a Licensed Funeral Director, and headquartered in Piedmont, South Carolina. The company operates 7 offices across South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, serving pet owners primarily through referrals from hundreds of veterinary clinic partners and through direct consumer engagement. Its core service is pet cremation, offered in private (individual) and communal (group of 3-5 pets) formats, using Matthews and American crematory equipment operating at 1600-1700 degrees Fahrenheit with a notarized cremation certificate returned to the owner.

The company's principal technology asset is PETS (Personal Electronic Tracking System), a proprietary software platform that maintains chain-of-custody documentation from pet removal through cremation and return of cremains, including barcode verification at crematory check-in, unique tag numbers placed in the cremated remains, and a separate veterinarian portal at gsptrack.com for clinic-side request submission and owner notifications. Revenue is generated on a one-time, per-service basis, with pricing varying by pet size, location, and service type; ancillary revenue streams include urns (Tapestry Urn, Good Shepherd Mahogany Urn, Carved Wooden Urn), cremation jewelry, cremation glass, keepsakes, granite markers, and add-on services such as clay paw prints and hair clippings. The go-to-market motion is sales-led via veterinary clinic partnerships, with direct pet-owner services, a company website, and an active Facebook presence supporting top-of-funnel awareness and memorial community engagement. The business is independently owned by Charles Crook and his wife Stephanie, with no evidence of external institutional investment or public listing.

Name

Good Shepherd Pet Services

Legal name

Good Shepherd Pet Services

Website

https://goodshepherdpet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Good Shepherd Pet Services is a privately held, Southeast US pet cremation and memorialization operator with 7 offices across SC, NC, GA, and TN. It serves pet owners primarily through veterinary clinic referrals using its proprietary PETS electronic chain-of-custody tracking software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Cremation and Memorial Services

NAICS

Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (812910), Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (81291)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRALAIAJ

Pet Services (Grooming, Training, Daycare)

Consumer Products & Retail/Specialty Retail (Hobby, Books, Office, Pet, Toys)/Pet Services (Grooming, Training, Daycare)

Keywords

• Pet cremation services
• Pet memorial products
• Veterinary aftercare
• Cremation tracking software
• Pet loss support

Headquarters

HQ city

Piedmont

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Pet Cremation Services: Core revenue from pet cremation services, with pricing varying by pet size, location, and specific services requested. Private cremation is available at higher cost, while communal cremation is included with 3-5 other pets in the crematory.
2. Memorial Products: Sale of urns (Tapestry Urn, Good Shepherd Mahogany Urn, Carved Wooden Urn), cremation jewelry, cremation glass, eco-friendly memorial items, keepsakes, blankets, granite markers, river rocks, keychains, and cremation art glass.
3. Additional Services: Optional add-on services including clay paw prints, hair clippings, collar removal, and favorite blanket/toy inclusion in cremains. Free cremation services for staff and veterinarian pets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Good Shepherd Pet Services provides pet cremation services (both private individual cremation and communal cremation with 3-5 pets), using Matthews and American crematory equipment. The company operates a proprietary PETS (Personal Electronic Tracking System) software that provides chain-of-custody tracking from pet removal through return of cremains, with notarized cremation certificates. Memorial products including urns, cremation jewelry, cremation glass, eco-friendly items, keepsakes, blankets, granite markers, river rocks, keychains, and cremation art glass are sold as add-on offerings.

Product overview

Good Shepherd Pet Services operates as a pet cremation and memorial services company offering a unified service portfolio centered on cremation with proprietary PETS (Personal Electronic Tracking System) software for chain of custody tracking. The core product is pet cremation services (private and communal), supplemented by add-on memorial products including urns, cremation jewelry, and cremation art glass. Additional services include grief counseling support, pre-planning forms, pet memorials, and a veterinarian portal for seamless service coordination. The company also provides pet adoption resources and runs support groups through various partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pet Cremation Services Private and communal pet cremation services using Matthews and American crematory equipment operating at 1600-1700 degrees Fahrenheit; private cremation is performed individually per pet and communal cremation groups 3-5 pets, with cremains returned to the correct owner via the PETS tracking system.
• Pet Urns and Memorial Products Memorial merchandise including the Tapestry Urn, Good Shepherd Mahogany Urn, Carved Wooden Urn, cremation jewelry, cremation glass, eco-friendly items, keepsakes, blankets, granite markers, river rocks, keychains, and cremation art glass; add-on services include clay paw prints, hair clippings, collar removal, and inclusion of the pet's favorite blanket or toy with cremains.
• Pre-Planning Services Advance arrangement forms and services allowing pet owners to pre-plan cremation and memorial services for their pets before their death; available on the company website.
• PETS (Personal Electronic Tracking System) Software and Veterinarian Portal Proprietary electronic tracking software and partner-veterinarian portal that enables vet clinics to submit cremation requests, track pet status throughout the cremation process, and trigger automatic customer notifications via email and phone at pickup and return of cremains.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 25% client retention risk for veterinarians not communicating during cremation process
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Cremation Association of North America (CANA)coreOthersGood Shepherd Pet Services is a member of CANA (Cremation Association of North America), the leading organization for cremation providers. CANA membership indicates industry standards compliance and professional standing.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Gateway Services Inc. One of the largest pet cremation and aftercare providers in North America, offering private and communal cremation, memorial products, and clinic referral partnerships across multiple Canadian and US markets. Gateway is the closest direct competitor to Good Shepherd's regional cremation-plus-vet-channel model, with materially greater scale and geographic reach.
• Pet Angel Memorial Center: US pet cremation and memorial services operator offering private cremation, communal cremation, urns, and keepsakes through clinic referrals. Directly comparable to Good Shepherd in service mix (cremation tiers + memorial retail) and customer base (pet owners via veterinary channel).
• Fond Memories Pet Cremation: Independent pet cremation and memorial services provider offering private cremation, communal cremation, urns, and tribute products. Comparable to Good Shepherd across service tiers, memorial retail, and veterinary-clinic-driven acquisition.

Regional players

• Caring Pathways: Regional in-home pet hospice and euthanasia provider covering the Denver/Colorado market with affiliated aftercare services. Comparable to Good Shepherd in the dignified end-of-life positioning but operates in a different geography and with a hospice-led service model.

Broad incumbents

• PetSmart: Largest US specialty pet retailer (private under BC Partners) that has expanded into pet services including end-of-life and memorial offerings. Comparable as a broad incumbent that can distribute or bundle pet memorial products at retail scale, potentially competing with Good Shepherd's e-commerce urn and jewelry shop.
• Banfield Pet Hospital: Mars Petcare-owned veterinary hospital chain with hundreds of US locations that generates high volumes of end-of-life cases. Comparable as a veterinary customer/partner to Good Shepherd's clinic referral channel, with significant influence over aftercare provider selection at scale.
• BluePearl Pet Hospital: National specialty and emergency veterinary hospital chain (also Mars Petcare-affiliated) with significant euthanasia and end-of-life caseload. Comparable as a corporate veterinary counterparty in the same aftercare referral ecosystem that drives Good Shepherd's volume.
• VCA Animal Hospitals: Large national network of veterinary hospitals (owned by Mars Petcare) that handles end-of-life cases and partners with cremation providers. Comparable as a buyer-side counterparty in the same vet-clinic-to-cremation referral flow that Good Shepherd depends on, with the ability to consolidate aftercare to a single national partner.

Emerging players

• Pet Loss at Home: Mobile in-home pet euthanasia and aftercare provider offering direct-to-consumer cremation coordination in select US regions. Comparable to Good Shepherd on the aftercare side, with an emerging mobile delivery model that could attract price-sensitive pet owners away from clinic-referred cremation.
• Lap of Love: Large US mobile pet hospice and in-home euthanasia provider that has expanded into aftercare coordination, including cremation referrals. Comparable to Good Shepherd on the end-of-life pet care continuum, but differentiated by a hospice-first delivery model rather than a cremation-first one.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/GoodShepherdPetServices
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/good-shepherd-pet-services-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Good Shepherd Pet Services