Heavenly creatures OUR PET CEMETERY
Good grief! These animal lovers have turned their lifestyle block into a sanctuary for pets past
With its manicured lawns, spectacular trees and unique sculptures, it’s easy to think the four hectares at the front of Jackie Clements’ home are simply the well-tended gardens of a retired couple.
But looks can be deceiving. Spotted around the stunning grounds are about 1600 small plaques. Each is the burial site of a former pet – of all sizes great and small.
“It was really never our intention to have a pet cemetery in our garden,” explains Jackie. “It just kind of happened.”
By her own admission, Jackie says her long-term partner Dave Stephens has been the driving force in turning their vast backyard into a large-scale pet garden of remembrance. He bought the land in the late 1970s for $20,000, before meeting Jackie, now 65, in 1985.
“I considered many options,” says Dave, 72. “It was just a triangle shape of steep grassland. I eventually decided to create a park, but I kept thinking back to a pet cemetery I’d driven past in the 1960s in Lower Hutt. I just couldn’t shake the idea off.”
The couple soon spent every weekend and most evenings turning the land, located just outside of Albany, Auckland, into beautiful cascading gardens, with its many nooks and crannies offering the unique and unusual. It’s been a passion project right from the start of their romance.
“We’ve been engaged since 1985 and I always say, ‘All good things take time,’ and well, it’s no different with the gardens,” laughs Jackie. “We’re always out here, adding a sculpture or tidying up a section. There’s always something to do!”
The first pet to be buried was a cat called Fozzie in 1984. Then slowly, over the past three decades, there have been many pet dogs and cats, but also rabbits, guinea pigs, a few ferrets and pet rats, and even a small pony.
Dave adds, “We’ve also got a goldfish out there buried alongside the owner’s cat. They were the best of friends!”
There’s no doubting the couple are big animal lovers. Jackie has a deep interest in aviary birds. Adjacent to the house she has a number of aviaries, built by Dave, for mainly small finches such as Gouldians and cordon bleus, plus some Australian grass parakeets.
“We don’t have children, but over those 35 years we have had a lot of pets, so we know how important they are,” shares Jackie. “They’re a big part of your family, so it can be incredibly upsetting when they die. The pet cemetery gives people the chance to give their pet a meaningful farewell and the ability to come back and visit.”
Now, with the couple both retired, tending to the grounds not only keeps them busy but they also get to meet an eclectic mix of people, and have formed friendships with some of those who return to visit the pets they have buried there.
Jackie says, “People are welcome to visit at any reasonable time but we respect people’s space and privacy. Over the years, we’ve really learnt to never judge a book by its cover.
We’ve had some real toughlooking blokes here in tears, absolutely distraught that their best mate has passed.”
Dave remembers, “We had a family who came out here to pick the spot just up under these trees. They came back about a week later after the dog had died. There were about 20 of them with guitars, and they proceeded with song and celebration. It is interesting to see the different ways that people attend to their grief.”
Smiling, Jackie adds, “We even had this lovely woman who played her violin to celebrate and acknowledge the passing of her two cats when we buried them in the garden a couple of years apart.”
In part, those who contact the couple have learnt about the pet
cemetery through word of mouth. But Jackie and Dave also send out flyers and offer their services via local vets, with plots ranging from $345 for a cat to $645 for a large dog.
“The plaques are subtle,” says Jackie. “At first glance, you might not even notice they’re there. It’s just the name and the date they died.”
But she believes a pet cemetery was always in her future. “One of my earliest memories is going to my godmother’s, when I was about four, and she had a pet cemetery in Christchurch about 60 years ago.
“Then I met this wonderful man who had these big dreams of creating a park, and well, here we are, operating Auckland Pet Funerals. It’s kind of quirky but that’s us, really.”