Pet ceremonies
Bristol, South West and beyond
Bringing comfort and celebration
Grief is normal
Recovery from the loss of a pet is possible, even if it does not feel like it at the time. But recovery does not mean forgetting. Taking actions such as holding a memorial ceremony can bring comfort. Let me help you celebrate your unique relationship with a pet funeral or memorial.
Since ancient times we have honoured our departed animal companions ceremonially, allowing us to both express our grief and remember the good times. There is evidence that ancient Greeks and Romans cremated their pets in the belief that it freed their souls. In Iron Age burial sites, pets have been found buried with humans – thought to symbolise their status or possibly to accompany and guard them as they cross into the next life.
Some privileged households closer to home had pet burial areas in their grounds – have you seen the graves dedicated to horses and dogs at Ashton Court Mansion in Bristol?
In the Victorian era, humans’ relationships with animals in the UK changed, with pets increasingly being considered as part of the family. Queen Victoria was proud to bury and honour her dogs. The Hyde Park pet cemetery in London appeared in 1881.
Since the 1920s, pet funeral services and cremations have been available and personalised memorabilia became popular in the 1980s. It is such a lovely sign of recovery to be able to recognise our deep emotional bond with animals and not to feel as if we have to hide our sense of loss when a pet dies.
How can I arrange a funeral for my pet?
You contact me whenever you are ready after your pet has died.
A pet crematorium can arrange a compassionate cremation for your pet and will provide a service to collect your pet from home or the vet. They will provide you with their individual ashes if you would like them to keep or scatter. They also offer personalised memorabilia such as urns with your pets pawprint imprinted on it or pendants containing a strand of their fur.
Alternatively, you are free to bury them in your garden as long as you check the rules about depth and keeping away from water sources.
In either scenario, I can provide a unique ceremony to remember your loving companion. This may be particularly important if you have children for whom this is their first experience of death and grief.
After you contact me, we will meet to talk through the options and tell me all about the pet that you have lost – their funny quirks, their favourite pastimes, the humans they adored, what you will miss the most and how you will ensure that they are never forgotten.
I will craft a bespoke ceremony celebrating those fond memories as well as incorporating any symbolic rituals you have decided upon. Then I meet you wherever you decide is the best place to pay tribute to your companion and I deliver the ceremony for you.
Afterwards, you receive a copy of the ceremony script as a memento, perhaps for a memory box that you have created.
Please refer to my Fees page for current prices.
Do let me know if you would like to share a photo for the gallery below.
Other Pet ceremonies
I also do other pet ceremonies, such as adoption, friendship or wedding celebrations.
You could even hold a pet wedding at the same time as your own wedding ceremony, with special outfits, Pawsecco and a collar exchange instead of a ring exchange. The possibilities are endless!
