It’s hard to pick up the pieces after you just received news of your beloved pet’s death. Through this time, you will have to make some decisions that will ultimately reflect on your dog’s time on earth. For one, you will need to decide where to keep your dog. You will also have to think about how to remember your pet by. Pet burial is one option, while cremating a pet is also a choice of many pet owners. Either way, what’s important is how you honor your dog’s memory.
The first and most urgent concern is where to store your pet’s body. Although you should ideally direct your pet’s body to funeral services, sometimes you may have to store the body. This is okay, as long as you keep the body well-cooled for up to 24 hours.
Cooling the body is important to prevent decomposition. That’s why you shouldn’t wrap the body with a warm blanket around it. This will draw the heat out of the body and speed up the process of decay.
One way is to store the body in the refrigerator. You can also place the body on a cool concrete or cement floor to draw out the heat and keep the body cool. If none of these are possible, you may put the body in the coldest part of the room, wrap it in a plastic bag and fill it with ice.
If you’ve finally settled on pet cremation and live in New York, you’ll find that there are many ways for you to reach pet cremation services.
Guide to Cremating a Pet
It is very common for pet owners to have their deceased pets cremated, and there are many places in the city that will handle this for you. You first need to decide if you wish to keep your pet’s ashes as a remembrance. If so, you will want to arrange an individual (or private) cremation, meaning that your pet is cremated alone. This ensures that the remains returned to you are purely those of your pet. Businesses that offer individual cremation will have an assortment of urns and keepsake options for you to choose from and usually offer home pickup/delivery of remains as part of their service packages. One such business is Brooklyn-based Companion Cremation Services; this company also provides services to Long Island residents.
102 Skillman Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
(718) 388-0605
The Animal Medical Center is open 24 hours and will accept your animal for communal cremation at any time, day or night, for a $50 fee. Other cremation services are available, but must be arranged directly with the third-party cremation service provider.
510 E. 62 Street, NY, NY
(212) 838-8100
If you’ve decided to bury your dog, you can do so in your backyard. However, if it is not wide enough, there are a number of cemeteries around New York, like Pet Haven, Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, and ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital.
Indeed, this will be a tough time for you. But know that whatever happens, the memory of your beloved pet lives on and you have several shoulders to lean on.