Before you go, make arrangements for pet’s ashes
Dear Cathy,
I am a single female with no dependents. I cremated one of my many critters, Divine, a dog, in 2016. What happens to those remains once I cross the rainbow bridge? I don’t think they can be buried with me; hopefully, I am wrong.
I have relatives, but I hesitate to give them this responsibility. My brother is in the same situation, although I know he would take Divine’s ashes as I would take his cat Scooby’s ashes. I am sure there are others in this same predicament. What can I do?
Sally R.
Dear Sally,
Creating a chain of custody for a pet’s urn can be challenging. Even if there are relatives, the next generation may not want this responsibility. Thankfully, there are several things you can do to ensure the ashes are cared for upon your death. You can have your pet’s cremated remains buried with you. You can bury your pet’s urn in a pet cemetery. Or you can scatter their cremated remains in places that allow it.
“There are no laws prohibiting you from including your pet’s cremated remains in your burial; it just depends on the funeral director,” says Mitzi Chafetz, funeral director for Eloise Woods Natural Burial Park, a natural cemetery for people and pets just north of Austin. “Funeral homes will have different policies about whether they allow this, so people need to call around to find out.”
Unbroken Circle, a natural green cemetery about 25 miles south of San Antonio in Atascosa, and Eloise Woods Natural Burial Park both operate burial services for people and pets, and will allow you to bury your pet’s cremated remains with you. You also may choose to bury the urn in a separate plot in their pet cemeteries.
Unbroken Circle also has seen instances when a person dies before their pets and the pets end up at the city shelter.
“We don’t want to see pets at risk of dying when their owner dies,” says Susan Everidge, Unbroken Circle’s green cemetery developer. “So, we try to work with people who can help us find those pets a new home. But that has to be in someone’s will in order for us to do that.”
In addition to Eloise Woods and Unbroken Circle, Mission Park Funeral and Cremation operates a pet cemetery on Southeast Military Highway where you could arrange for the urn to be buried.
If you decide to scatter the ashes before you pass, you can do it on private land with the owner’s permission. If you want to do it on public land, you must talk to any nearby city or park service to get authorization, as it may not be allowed.