Pet Cemetery

I’ve never really thought about what comes after my pets cross over. To be honest, I don’t really want to think about it. I know I have to come to terms with it at some point, but why not enjoy the present sans morbid thoughts?

Regardless of my attempts to avoid thinking about loss, I’m currently researching pet cemeteries for another blog I write for. During my search, I ran across this short, concise, and VERY interesting article. Have you ever wondered when humans started burying their animal companions? I can’t say I have, but it’s truly mesmerizing. The first time I ever saw an actual pet cemetery was last year while driving towards Salem, NH. Even though I haven’t entered the grounds, the view from outside is beautiful. In a weird sense, it’s heart-warming to know people still care about their pets even after death. And why shouldn’t they? Dogs and cats (and horses, birds, hamsters, etc.) offer us unyielding, enduring, and selfless love, comfort, and happiness any & every day.

Here’s the article taken from the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery & Crematory website:

The History of Pet Burials by Mary Thurston

The ritualized burial of animals has been practiced in virtually every part of the world at some point in time. In many societies, it was (and still is) a means of honoring animals who endeared themselves to their human families. Such burials stand as enduring expressions of one’s emotional affinity with nonhuman beings, and on a more expansive level, one’s sense of spiritual kinship with the natural world at large. Funerary rites for animals celebrate the most enduring of human beliefs-that we share the “next life” with other creatures-just as we do this one. Continue Reading… *Picture taken from lostjersey.com

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