Planning a Pet Funeral

In Blessing of the Animals the last section is titled, Grave Topics at Tails Endand is dedicated to ideas for pet bereavement ceremonies, prayers, and unique ways to memorialize your pet.

Today I found this article but beware of the obnoxious capture screen on the site that blocks the article and leads you to believe you can't read it unless you give over your name and email address. This is not true, if you click into the site, just click the X to close the window to view the entire article. You can visit the site clicking on the header.

Planning a Pet Funeral by Renae Hamrick, RVT

Pet burials and memorials have existed for a long time; records of them exist as far back as the B.C. years. In fact, according to National Geographic, the oldest known pet cat was found in a 9,500 year old grave on the island of Cyprus, buried with a human. As can be proven by the many elaborately mummified animals which have been recovered, ancient Egypt took the task of honoring their deceased pets very seriously.

Pet burials began between 14,000 and 9,000 years ago. a 12,000 year-old Natufian burial site (Israel) found a puppy buried with the owner but Salima Ikram an Eqyptologist with the Cairo Museum said that animal mummification reached its pinnacle of popularity between 664-525 BCE.

Today we memorialize our pets with funerals, cremations, burials in cemeteries and backyards, taxidermy, and some owners even use cryogenics and cloning. Paw prints, hair clippings, memorial stones, and gemstones made from a pet's cremains are some other means of keep the memory of a pet alive.

The options today are amazing. My editors requested that I edit out some of the taxidermy and freezedrying options since they found them distastful. If you purchase Blessing of the Animals you'll receive a code that will give you some of that bonus material...

Parting with Pets

Here is another article on pet burial options--parting with pets.

Pet Ashes to Diamonds

Although I covered a US company that turns dead pets into diamonds in BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS, this article just appeared for another company in the UK that seems to do the same thing.

The ashes are rendered into the type of gem you select. I forgot to put that excerpt on the website and will offer sneak previews each week at the site starting February 15th.

Those of you who have read What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality: Inspiring Lessons of Wild & Tame Creatures know that I shared the intense loss of my beloved dog, Clyde. I had a short summary of what Clyde taught me.

At the time I was an instructor teaching Comparative Animal Science and one of my students made me a card with the Rainbow Bridge today this article about the Rainbow Bridge crossed my desk with one of the versions listed at the conclusion.

Then this article came up concerning euthanizing a beloved pet...one of the hardest things I think I had to do...and the saddest day of my life was when I lost my Clyde.

Pet Loss: One Story

In this article you'll find the story about pet loss. People share stories about their animals all the time and big questions remain as to what protocols are proper so I made sure BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS shares stories about how to deal with pet loss, pet funeral trends, and even includes some ceremonies.

Pet loss and bereavement is a tough road for everyone and even those who don't really care for animals are affected by loss when their friends and family are impacted. You can find my story of pet loss in WHAT ANIMALS CAN TEACH US ABOUT SPIRITUALITY: INSPIRING LESSONS OF WILD AND TAME CREATURES.

Pet Funerals

In Blessing of the Animals I talk about pet loss, pet funerals and the options pet parents have after losing a pet. In one section I mention Hartsdale Cemetery...this article about pet loss options mentions them and Bide-A-Wee--along with some other tidbits I thought you might find useful.