The death of a pet can be a heavy loss for many people. Many people or families consider their pets to be a member of the family and have lived and loved that pet for ten years or more. Not surprisingly, many pet owners decide to create pet memorials or hold pet memorial services in honor of a departed animal loved one. These pet memorials range from simple plaques to more elaborate memorial services which may resemble a typical human memorial service. The type of memorial created and the type of service hosted may depend on your personal opinions regarding how to memorialize your pet, your personal budget and how you personally decide to grieve for your deceased pet.
A memorial marker is an item which is intended to memorialize the memory of a loved one—animal or otherwise—through a permanent display item. This can include headstones which are placed on top of the grave of a deceased animal, at a pet cemetery or (depending on your area’s regulations) on your own land. Pet headstones are a popular way to keep the memory of a pet alive in a manner that is familiar to us through our popular methods of remembering the dead via cemetery headstones. These pet headstones can be as simple as granite stones with the pet’s name and age inscribed into it or as elaborate as custom made headstones featuring animal statues, angel figures or other mourning iconography. A pet’s headstone may include their name, date or birth and date, who they belong to, a short message about their personality or life, or a favorite quote that is reminiscent of the pet. Headstones for pets may range from $100-150 to several thousand dollars depending on the complexity and quality of the headstone marker. People who intend to create pet headstones will also need to work out the logistics of burying their pet in the ground. Pet cemeteries often require pet caskets to be purchased in addition to the fees for burial and land, while not every area will allow for animals to be buried on residential property.
Urns which hold the cremated remains of pets are another way for people to memorialize their deceased pet friends. These urns may range in size depending on size of the pet prior to cremation—smaller animals like guinea pigs will naturally require smaller urns than say, a Saint Bernard dog. Like headstones, pet urns may be simple and relatively unadorned or complicated and custom made. Simpler urns will typically be less expensive than larger urns with custom engraving or decoration. Urns are a way to bypass regulations regarding pet burial in a person’s area, and cremation typically only costs $80-200, depending on the size of the animal and what, if any, urns or containers are purchased from the pet crematory.
OF course, pet owners don’t have to limit themselves to traditional headstones or urns to keep the memory of a deceased pet alive. Many pet owners are choosing memorials like custom plaques, often inscribed with the name and age of the pet, in lieu of full headstones or urns. These plaques not only save space but can be placed indoors in various areas of the home. Plaques are a relatively inexpensive way to remember a pet without spending hundreds of dollars on burial or cremation.
All of these methods can be combined with a pet funeral memorial. These pet memorials can be held just about anywhere the pet owner desires, although many of them are simply held in the pet owner’s home. Like human memorials, these animal memorials are intended to help pet owners go through the grieving process and remember the happy, wonderful times they had with their animal companion.
Browse our obituary template examples, we have packages for your pets too.
