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The Popularity of Pet Memorials in
Europe
By Kristin DeAnn Gabriel
People from around the world have honored pets upon
their death and buried their beloved friends in pet
cremation urns or pet cemetaries for centuries. For
example, in 1986 Laurence Stager's archaeological team
discovered an ancient pet cemetery with the remains of
1000 dogs dating back to the period of Persian rule from
539 to 332 BC in Palestine.
The Le Cimetière des Chiens D'Asnières-Sur-Seine
features a large sculpture with the carving of a Saint
Bernard carrying a child. The dog, Barry, saved the
lives of 40 people in the Alps before he lost his own
life attempting a rescue for the 41st time. Another
large tombstone-has a statue of a German Shepherd
memorializing all police dogs who have died in action
serving humans.
A pet cemetery located in the United Kingdom at Brynford
near Holywell in Flintshire, is an award-winning spot.
For the third year in a row the pet cemetery won the
distinguished award for the UK's best facility of its
kind last year. The award was from the Memorial
Awareness Board, an organization run by the National
Association of Memorial Masons.
Brynford's owner John Ward and his wife started the
cemetery 1989, and since, more than 500 pets have been
buried and or cremated there. This cemetery features a
chapel, tea rooms, and a visitor center on seven and a
half acres of landscaped gardens for the pet memorials.
At services in the chapel a priest delivers a farewell
prayer with dignity.
In America, Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory is
America's oldest and most prestigious pet memorial and
burial grounds. It was developed back in 1896, and by
the end of the War there were more than 2,000 graves in
this Westchester County, New York cemetery where pets
are buried in pet urns, and pet caskets, with pet
memorial markers. It all started when prominent New York
City Veterinarian Dr. Samuel Johnson offered his apple
orchard as a burial plot for a friend's dog. Today,
there are more than 70,000 pets buried there, and many
have custom pet memorial stones.
This state of the art pet crematory has a separate
crematory office and offers a range of services
including cremation, pet memorials, pet cremation urns
and more. Plus since more than 7,000 military canines
had served with such great distinction during the War,
it as Hartsdale Canine Cemetery that was chosen as the
location for a beautiful pet monument built for $2,500.
The German shepherd status was designed by Walter A.
Buttendorf and sculpted by a well known designer who was
one of the builders of Grand Central Station in New York
City, Robert Caterson.
Kristin Gabriel is a professional writer based in Los
Angeles, CA who works with Peternity.com, a place where
people honor their pets for eternity. Peternity provides
custom products including pet memorial stones [http://www.peternity.com/ecom/index.php?tplaction=details&id=16]
and grave markers, pet urns, garden statue pet
memorials, pet memorial headstones, pet keepsake
memorials, pet portraits, burial boxes, custom engraved
glasswork, and other pet memorials. Visit http://www.peternity.com |
