China's first crematorium and mausoleum for pets opened in a Beijing suburb to meet an increasing demand by Chinese pet owners to seek ways to mourn the death of their furry friends, State media said.

Pet owners in the past had no way to dispose of dead pets other than tossing the carcasses into trash bins or secretly burying them in the countryside, the Beijing Star Daily said Friday.

Pet owner associations had set up a cemetery for pets, but with only 500 square meters, the space filled up quickly.

The Beijing Small Animal Protection Association later sought and received donations from a pet food and accessory store, the Beijing Universal Love and Partner Animal Service Center, to build the 500,000-yuan (US$60,240) crematorium.

A stray dog killed by a vehicle Friday was the first animal cremated, a woman at the crematorium said. A local performance artist donated the money, she said.

Located in Beijing’s Changping District, the crematorium was the first in the country licensed by the government to handle pets, the report said.

Cremation fees are based on the size of the pets and range from 500 yuan to 800 yuan.

There is also a mausoleum in the crematorium's ground that can accommodate 1,000 urns holding the remains of cremated pets. Rental fees range from 100 to 250 yuan per year.

Cremating pets was praised by experts in the report as land saving, environmentally correct and hygienic as it would reduce the chances of humans becoming sick from contact with the carcasses.

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