Pets are an integral part of our lives and families and saying goodbye in the form of a funeral or memorial service is both appropriate and meaningful. As even the Simpsons television series recently portrayed, our pets fully deserve a farewell service not only out of respect for the pet's life and all the years of happiness he or she provided to us, but also to help us to achieve closure and deal with our grief.
Time and again people discuss just how much more difficult it is to move past the loss of a bet, rather than that of a human. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that our society on the whole denies pet owner's permission to openly grieve the loss of this kind of family member. Their grief is disenfranchised and they wind up burying, denying or rushing through those feelings of grief. By making the process of memoralization more widely accepted, more people will find solace having their grief validated publicly.
Dewey Readmore Books, was the library cat of Spencer, Iowa for 19 years. "On a cold Saturday in the middle of December, Dewey's admirers gathered at the library to remember one last time, the friend who had had such an impact on their lives. The staff tried to keep it light, Joy remembered the cart rides, Sharon told how Dewey stole the meat out of her sandwich - but despite our best efforts, tears where shed. Two women cried the whole time. Crews from local television stations were filming the event....but the cameras seemed out of place. These were private thoughts among friends; we didn't want to share our words with the world. We also realized, as we stood there together, that words couldn't describe our feelings for Dewey. There was no easy way to say how special he was...."
"Dewey was cremated with one of his favorite toys, Marty Mouse, so he wouldn't be alone. His ashes were buried outside "the window of the children's library, at the foot of the beautiful statue of a mother reading a book to her child."
Myron, V. (2008). Dewey the Small-Town Libary Cat Who Touched the World. Grand Central Publishing. New York, NY.
In Bangkok, Thailand, the Klong Toey Nai temple near the Chao Phraya river grants pets full funeral rites. The rites begin with short prayers by monks, a 2-hour cremation, and finally a trip along the river to scatter the ashes.
"Mimi’s memorial service took place at a Zen tea garden in West Hollywood…Mimi’s signature color was pink, so everybody came to the memorial dressed in pink. There were passed hor d’oeuvres – deviled eggs because they were her [Mimi's] favorite – as well as pink cocktails and pink flowers on the tables." "After about half an hour of cocktails, everyone gathered to watch a video tribute on a big screen. There was footage from her appearances on our show and still shots..." A friend "came forward and asked everyone to lift a glass of pink champagne" and made a toast to Mimi. "Everyone was handed a little pink box." A speaker read some special passages then “asked everyone to open their boxes. Inside each was a monarch butterfly. We released them and they all flew into the sky...I said my last good-byes and kissed her. I closed the casket and they took her away to cremate her." Spelling, T. (2009). Mommywood. New York, NY.
The legendary Man O' War saved the sport of American horse racing in the 1920s. His reputation spoke for itself as other horse owners became disliked running their own horses against him. Man O' War lost only one race during his entire career, and even then he came in 2nd. As a father (sire) he went on to produce over 64 stakes winners & 200 champions; he was grandfather to Seabiscuit.
He died in 1947, and laid in state for several days in a custom build casket designed with his racing colors. He rests at Kentucky Horse Park.
Native American tribes in California's Central Valley on were buried with their dogs.
The dogs were buried ceremoniously and with great respect.
Dogs were considered family members to the tribal people. Often times, owners and their dogs were buried nestled alongside one another.
Pets were always buried where humans were buried, which is why there is no historical record of pet cemeteries.
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