When a pet dies in your family it can be just as painful as if you have lost a child. Making the time to say goodbye through hosting a pet funeral is a beautiful way to remember the happy times you have spent together.

Tips On Planning a Pet Funeral

Whether their passing was predicted or sudden, it remains a challenging time for you and your family upon the passing of a pet. To make things slightly easier, we've put together a collection of tips to help you plan a funeral for your pet:

  • Give yourself time to grieve. It is important to allow yourself time to grieve for the pet you have lost
  • Decide if you want to bury your pet or you wish to cremate them
  • Decide where you would like to hold a funeral or memorial service. If it’s a burial, you might like to hold a service in a pet cemetery or at your own home. If you have chosen cremation, you might have this ceremony in a location that had special meaning to your pet such as a park or at the beach
  • Invite only those that really knew the pet, this may just be a small gathering of guests such as your partner, you and your kids
  • Engage the services of a pet funeral celebrant, to help guide you plan a suitable funeral or memorial service
  • Have an introduction where a special prayer or song is used, and why we are here today to honour our beloved pet. This could be performed by a family member or a celebrant
  • Allow everyone who wishes to say how much the pet meant to them and to say their goodbyes to this pet that has been such as big part of their life
  • Bring the funeral to a natural conclusion by having a prayer or song
  • Commit the pet to the ground or scatter their ashes if you plan to do this on the day
  • Host a celebration reception if desired

If you take the time to plan how you decide to say goodbye to your pet, then you can rest assured that you have done all you can do to give them the funeral that your pet deserves. A pet funeral also helps with the grieving process and is a highly suitable platform for all to farewell your beloved pet. Please read our Pet Farewell articles for more advice and support with coping with the death of a pet.