Before pet cemeteries became a thing in the mid-19th century, there were few options for disposing of a beloved dog or cat (or parrot or monkey). In Paris, 5,000 dead animals a year were dumped in the Seine, while in north London 750 dead dogs a week were taken for “processing” and turned into organic manure.
But when pet owners tried to bury their precious pets in human cemeteries, people revolted. In Scotland in 1885, a woman held a wake for her beloved cat Tom and neighbors paid their respects, but when she tried to put him in a local cemetery, a riot broke out. Tom was pulled from his coffin and his corpse returned to its owner.
“In Los Angeles, an attempt by a widow to bury her husband’s dog next to him resulted in a court hearing in which her sanity was put on trial,” writes Paul Koudounaris in Faithful to Death: The Cemetery of pets, pet graves and eternal devotion”. ” (Thames & Hudson, out now).
The first plot of land set aside to bury a pet was in London in 1881, when a friendly Maltese named Cherry was buried in Hyde Park. Cherry spent many happy days in the park, so when the dog passed, his family asked the caretaker to bury Cherry near his cottage.
When the man agreed, many similar requests followed and were granted, turning his property into the first pet cemetery.
“His garden became a visible message in a public park. . . that pets deserve a dignified death.”
A second pet cemetery was established in Huntingdonshire, built as a commercial venture. He tried the final resting places for cats and dogs, but also “rabbits, parrots, snakes, monkeys and rats”, all buried for between 5 and 13 shillings, depending on the size.
For a few pence more “peat and bulbs” were added to a plot, a touch of class that persuaded the King of Belgium and two Siamese princes to bury their furry friends there.
Perhaps the most famous animal resting place is Le Cimetière des Chiens in Paris. Prior to its existence, pet owners were not allowed to throw their dead animals into a river or dispose of them in a garbage heap, leaving almost no option for the city of Paris who did not own land. .
The police agreed when a lawyer named Harmois argued “there’s no way to dispose of a dead animal without risking a citation,” so Harmois helped establish the city’s Dog and Other Pet Cemetery in 1899. She became “the world’s most fabled pet cemetery”, with 16,000 burials in its first 20 years, including that of the faithful hound, Emma.
Emma was owned by a fallen Neapolitan princess, a young woman seduced by the belly of Paris, who eventually became a cabaret singer and prostitute. The inscription that the young woman carved on the hound’s tombstone is still relevant.
“In memory of my dog Emma, the faithful companion and only companion of my wandering and desolate life.”
Other notable inscriptions are found around the world. A gravestone in English reads “Fudge, as dear and sweet as his name.” Outside of Atlanta is Bingo, “let a little dog in your heart and it will tear it to pieces.”
In the Arizona desert, a memorial to an unidentified dog teases: “Everybody loved you but Uncle Ted. Yeah, damn Uncle Ted.”
After all, no one made home cemeteries like the Americans, who by the 1920s had over 600, more than the rest of the world combined. A New York City zoo was built in Hartsdale and still exists today, with over 100,000 burials to date.
Its most famous resident has to be Goldfleck, an adult lion who spent his short life living entirely at the Plaza Hotel with the Hungarian princess who adopted him. Goldfleck was so pampered that he eventually died young, of gout, due to his extremely inadequate diet.
At Pine Ridge outside Boston are buried Igloo, who went to the North and South Poles with Admiral Byrd, and the 3 Boston terriers owned by Lizzie Borden.
Buried at Cara Glen outside Atlantic City are both “Rex the Wonder Dog” (who had a water skiing act in that gambling mecca) and Parry, famous for riding a tricycle while chewing on a sidewalk pipe of the city.
The Los Angeles Memorial Pet Park was established in the late 1920s, a burial ground called the “Valhalla of screen dogs and cats.”
It is the final resting place of animals including Hopalong Cassidy’s horse, Topper, who starred in 66 films. The cemetery also became a favorite of many Hollywood stars – including Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, Abbott and Costello and Alfred Hitchcock – who all buried their beloved animal companions there. Jerry Lewis buried so many pets at the nearby Pet Haven that he was given an entire section.
If the idea of burying a pet once seemed absurd, times have changed. In the Gloucestershire village of Blockley, for example, stands a gravestone for a “tame trout,” a fish whose owner claimed it would come when called.
At Aspin Hill Memorial Park outside Washington, DC, is an unmarked grave for a common housefly, an insect that some co-workers believe brought joy to their office.
However, all burials, around the world, tell the same story. People honor their lost animal friends with funerals and burial plots to recognize the invaluable love and companionship they give their pets in life.
Or, as the Boston poet Le Baron Cooke said: “I knew love; I had a dog.”
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Image Source : nypost.com