As you grieve the loss of your good old dog, the choice of pet cremation may sound appealing to you for a number of reasons. If you’ve set your mind on this, the last thing you have to worry about is pet cremation costs. Pet burial is often expensive and requires compliance with several local government laws. Pet cremation, on the other hand, will serve the same purpose as a pet burial but won’t require you to spend as much.
The typical costs of a pet burial depend on the size of the pet. For small puppies, the price range is $55 to $100. Dogs that are up to 50 pounds, the costs range between $100 and $150. Dogs that are between 50 and 120 pounds will cost $150 to $350, with the price going up as the size of the dog’s body goes up.
This fee already involves a range of services, from having your pet picked up to delivering it to the facility. There might also be some additional costs depending on the additional services performed.
Pet Cremation Costs? Don’t worry about it
What should be included:
- Pet cremation services often have someone on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- After you call, the company often will pick up the pet from the home or veterinary clinic and deliver it to the facility. A staff member then tags the pet with an identification number, and cremates the animal in a special furnace that reduces the body to sand-like particles.
- The facility places the ashes either in a sealed bag or a tin or cardboard box, then either holds them for pick-up or delivers them to the owner.
- Some pet cemeteries that also do cremation offer free pet bereavement support groups.
Additional costs:
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Some crematories charge an added fee of about $45 to pick-up the body after hours and on weekends.
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Some crematories allow the pet owner to view the cremation, sometimes for an added fee of about $25 or more.
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Urns to hold the ashes typically cost $50 to $150 for a classic bronze, brass or enamel vase, depending on size, but can run as high as $1,000 for a large wax-cast urn in an elaborate shape. Experts recommend choosing urn size based on the pet’s pre-cremation body weight, with one cubic inch of space per pound. AngelAshes.com offers urns, as does PerfectMemorials.com.
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An engraved nameplate for the urn can cost about $10 to $25. (Read More Here)
There are crematories that will give you a discount of more than 50%, should you opt for a communal cremation. Before availing the service, you might want to ask a facility if they do mass cremations, how they dispose of the ashes, and whether you’ll get the ashes back.
You can also ask for a tour of the facility. There’s nothing wrong with this at all—after all, you just want the best for your beloved pet.