Some cemeteries are specializing in putting to rest man’s best friend, be it furry, fluffy or fowl
Story by Molly Corfman
They rest in tiny coffins with little pillows—dressed in sweaters to keep warm and surrounded with toys and treats to keep busy in the afterlife.
Headstones are engraved with “Our little person in a fur coat, Derek Balch 1980 -1996.”
“Our baby boy, Randy 1967-1979,”
“Duchess, sweet angel, always loved, forever missed 1993-2003.”
They mourn dogs, cats, birds, monkeys and pigs.
“I will come out here sometimes and see dog bones, chew bones and toys on the stones,” says Michele Glass as she passes where a couple will bury their ashes next to their family of deceased pets. “There is a lot of love out here.”
Glass is one of the owners of Boston Mills Pet Memorial Park in Hudson, Ohio, which is just one of more than 200 pet cemeteries across the country. According to the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement’s Web site, Ohio has at least 11 pet cemeteries —the fourth highest in the country.
With these types of numbers, it seems that more people are choosing to give their beloved pets a proper burial or cremation.
“Most people, when I tell them about this, they think it is a funny thing,” says Lee Rasi, Glass’ brother, who works part-time in the pet cemetery. “They say, ‘Pet cemetery? You bury them in the yard!’ But people want to spend the money, and they love their animals, so they come to us.”
A pet burial is similar to a human burial, Glass says.
“It’s basically like you make arrangements for a family member or person,” because a person picks out the lot, chooses the casket and sets a time for burial, she says.
A viewing room gives pet owners precious last minutes with their pets. Most pet owners spend about 30 minutes with their pet before going to the gravesite where a poem is read and the pet is buried.
“There is basically not much you can do for the pet,” Glass says, “so you are there for the family.”
She also refers people to a grief center if they have difficulty overcoming the loss of a pet.
“A lot of people have a very hard time,” she says. “If they don’t have kids or they are retired and their kids have moved away, their pet is their life.”
Glass says the cost of a pet burial begins around $1,000, and the cost of a pet cremation begins around $150. The cost of casket or urn can be thousands of dollars.
But not every pet owner who buries a pet visits the memorial park.
“Some people have called us, just made the arrangements over the phone, had a full blown burial, bought the stone and everything and have never been out,” Glass says.
On average, the memorial park receives about 20 to 25 visitors each week paying respects to their deceased pets. On major holidays it receives the most visitors. One man visits every day like clockwork, Glass says.
“There is a story behind every dog that is here,” says Al Rasi, Glass' father and also part owner of the cemetery, looking at a round stone engraved with the name “Andre.”
The dog accompanied his owner to Lake Michigan each year on vacation and would always relieve himself on the same stone after he jumped out of the car. After the dog died, Rasi says the owner went back to their spot, found the stone and had it used as the beloved pet’s headstone.