Pet cemetery

A pet cemetery is a cemetery for animal.

In addition to burying human remains, many human cultures also regularly bury animal remains. This is often necessary for hygienic reasons when the body cannot be disposed of in another way.

Pets and other animals of emotional significance are often ceremonially buried. Most families bury deceased pets on their own properties, mainly in a yard, with a shoe box or any other type of container served as a coffin. The Ancient Egyptians are known to have mummified and buried cats, which they considered deities.

The Romans had very similar ways of dealing with pet loss. Expansive parcels of land would be set aside for large stone monuments dedicated to the owner’s pet. Alexander the Great, a famous pet lover of his time, dealt with the loss of his pets in this way.

The Cimetière des Chiens in Asnières-sur-Seine in Paris, is an elaborate, sculpted pet cemetery believed to be the first zoological necropolis in the world.

In 1978, filmmaker Errol Morris directed a film about pet cemeteries called Gates of Heaven.

Burial options


For private burial, typically both single or multiple plots options are available. A specially designed pet casket would be used and possibly a vault depending on the strength of the casket structure.

In cremation, the animal would be placed in the crematory alone. Only and all of the pet's cremated remains are returned to the owner. The remains can be saved in an urn, buried, or scattered.

In a memorial cremation, several pets are cremated together. The resulting cremated remains are then scattered on the cemetery grounds.

In most cases pet cemeteries will have a chapel, and there will be facilities to hold either a non-denominational Christian or, alternatively, a non-religious ceremony.

In January 2010, West Lindsey District Council gave permission for a site in the village of Stainton by Langworth where animal remains can be inerred alongside human remains as part of a "green burial" site, making it the first place in England where pets could be buried alongside their owners.