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The idea of a pet casket may seem strange to the uninitiated. But, for anyone who has lost a beloved animal companion, purchasing a vessel by which to send him or her off to eternity in style can be a comforting thought. It may seem strange to spend money on such a thing, but, in the midst of grief, a casket can be a great comfort for a distraught pet owner. For those times, we offer a few ideas for how to use a pet casket as the center piece for a beautiful pet memorial that will bring a great deal of peace to a family that is struggling with the deep emotions of losing a pet.
Deciding if a Casket is For You
The first thing to consider about a pet casket is whether or not it is necessary in your particular circumstance. This depends upon your level of emotional involvement with the pet. Not all individuals or families will experience a deep sense of grief over the loss of a pet and, therefore, a pet casket may be largely unnecessary. It is often the case, however, that families, particularly those with children who have limited experience with death, will find themselves in quite a state of shock over the loss of a beloved friend that has been a faithful companion for years, maybe even decades. In these circumstances, a pet casket is likely worth considering as part of a full set of memorial activities intended to help a family cope with its grief in a healthy, productive way. For more inspiration, you can explore Creating Pet Memorial Ideas. In all honesty, there is not a correct answer to the question of whether you and your family actually need a pet casket. The answer depends solely upon the emotional needs of your group. So, while there will always likely be critics to your choice of bringing – or not — a pet casket in to your family’s commemoration of your pet’s blessed life, the fact is, no matter the decision, your duty is to your family’s needs, not the critics’.
Choosing a Casket
If you have decided upon buying a pet casket for your memorial rituals involving your beloved pet, the next step is to pick the perfect casket. Fortunately, the memorial products industry has many to choose from. These days, probably the best place to search for your pet casket options is on the internet. A multitude of websites exists that can offer you personalized service and a huge selection of pet caskets available in all sizes, shapes, colors, styles and materials. A single site may have more than 1,000 caskets available, all of which can be delivered by next day air, as needed, and the prices – even for the most expensive ones is usually far less than a family might expect.
In general, caskets for pets are available in the much the same type of hardwood and metal as those for humans. Customers can find sophisticated exterior designs and internal bedding that will make for a comforting picture if family members and friends want to attend brief memorial ceremony and parade before an open casket to pay their last respects.
But there is much more than that. Pet caskets are available from the very simple to the artistically complex: Some caskets resemble not much more than a sturdy, and stylish, cardboard box. And these biodegradable models can offer the assurance that a pet’s grave will not make for too much of an environmental hazard as the remains gradually co-mingle with a rest of the soil in a way that is most comforting for an animal lover to consider.
While many veterinarians will be able to offer their customers beautiful catalogs filled with pictures of pet caskets galore, it is important for pet owners to remember that probably an even larger selection exists online and can be accessed quite easily from the privacy of one’s home. For this reason, many veterinarians across the United States have given up on the idea of being a retail outlet for pet memorial products such as caskets and cremation urns. Instead, these offices simply refer customers to various online sites, so they can turn their attention to actually prolonging the lives of their clients’ pets rather than tending to the care they will receive in death. Whatever the case, when choosing a pet cremation urn, the important thing to remember is that a veterinarian’s office may seem like the most convenient retail outlet for such a purchase, the fact is that an online-source can, in the end, be even better.
One interesting tip that experts in the field of working with families whose pets have died often offer is this: be sure to save your pet’s vital records from just after the time that he or she is full grown. These may come in handy upon the pet’s death because they typically include measurements related to the pet’s size. Armed with this information, knowing just the size of casket to order from an online source becomes a simple matter. Without the pet’s size, families may find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to unceremoniously measure the deceased pet’s body so as to know what size casket to buy. This is often not a pleasant chore. It can even be emotionally disturbing to someone for whom the pet was a long-time, faithful friend.
Deciding on a Burial Spot
Once a pet casket as been decided upon that fits your family’s needs – both emotional and financial – the next step in memorializing your pet with a pet casket is to decide what will be done with the casket and, of course, the pets body. One of the disadvantages of a pet casket is that, unlike it’s cousin the pet cremation urn, pet caskets must be buried relatively quickly for sanitation purposes, at the very least. Cremation urns, meanwhile offer more flexibility. Sometimes they are buried, and still other times they are displayed for years on a family’s mantel, and still other times the remains are scatter upon some sacred place, and the pet cremation urn is kept on display as a permanent reminder for the family of the special memories the friend helped bring about. A pet casket, meanwhile must be buried. There is simply no other option.
But there are a great many potential spots for burial. Many families choose to bury their beloved friends in a back yard (even in a garden in many cases). Others choose to bury their pets in special places on family ground – such as a hunting lease or campground – in rural areas. And still others work with one of the growing number of pet cemeteries that now operate in most large cities in the United States or with the even faster growing number of human cemeteries that are allowing pets to be buried along side their owners or that have special sections devoted exclusively to pet.
While home burial of a pet will usually be the most economical means by which to bury a faithful friend, it may not be the most practical, from a legal perspective. Families are cautioned to be very careful that they understand local laws related to pet burial. Often the practice is outlined entirely in many urban areas, and it is certainly never a good idea to bury a pet on property that does not belong to the family – such as in the back yard of a rented home – or which the family may have need to sell at some point. Except, perhaps, in the case of small pets being buried in biodegradable caskets that will thoroughly mix with the elements within, say, a few months of a burial, adding a pet grave site to a family’s property is not something that should be decided upon without a lot of careful thought.
Organizing a Funeral
After the perfect pet casket has been selected, then a family can organize the perfect funeral for its special friend. For many people, this event can seem as awkward as the very idea of buying a pet casket itself. But, as with the decision to purchase a pet casket, organizing a pet funeral can be a healthy way to help families – especially those with children – grieve the loss of their friend.
What happens during a funeral depends upon, of course, the needs of the family. Many pet funerals depicted on television and in movies are light-hearted affairs, some even featuring a little sarcasm over the very idea that a pet funeral would be necessary. That sort of funeral may work well for a family that does not necessarily take its relationship with its pets as seriously as others.
But there is absolutely nothing wrong with a family who chooses to stage a full-blown, very serious funeral for a pet – complete with Sunday dress, emotional eulogies, and even sympathy cards from guests.
The latter type of pet funeral will likely require a simple, unsophisticated pet casket. Whereas the former might be best fitted with one of the more expensive, hardwood or metal models that are available from most retailers.
Conducting the Burial
And, finally, comes the burial. Some decisions about burial must be made in advance of a funeral, and these decisions might not always be immediately evident. Most of these decisions are very similar to those that must be made in relation to a funeral of a person.
First, a family must decide if the funeral will be conducted in a separate place from the burial (with the pet’s body being moved from the funeral location to the burial site by pall bearers or cemetery personnel). This decision, as with all others about a pet funeral, is related to the family’s overall countenance. If lightheartedness is the rule of the day, then a quick ceremony at the very site of the burial itself is in order. Otherwise, families should not be afraid to stage a full-fledged move of the pet’s casketed body from a funeral site indoors to a burial site outside, where the ceremony will continue, even if briefly, before the actually burial takes place.
Then there is the question of whether the burial should be done in the presence of an audience or whether – as is often the case when people are buried – if the family members assigned the task of burying the pet in its casket should wait until all funeral goers have left. As with all the other decisions we have discussed in this article, there is no way to judge right from wrong. Whatever suits a family’s overall emotional needs is the best decision in this case, too.
And, finally, there is the question of whether scripture should be a big part of a burial ceremony. Many people may raise objections to scripture playing a big role in the passing of a beloved animal. But, even these people might be appeased if the readings are centered around the human aspect of dealing with an emotional loss that may not always seem just when viewed from a human’s perspective. Whatever the case, we return to the contention we have made several times in this article: a wise choice in this respect is one that fits best the spiritual and emotional needs of a family. While theologians and philosophers may debate endlessly over whether a pet’s soul travels to anything resembling a heaven upon its passing from Earth, there is no doubt that easing the pain of loss that a child may experience by reflecting upon that possibility can be an emotionally healthy thing to do.
Pet caskets may seem strange and awkward, and the topic may seem to be well worth avoiding for many. But, for others, the idea of a pet casket helping ease the grief that can accompany us all (whether young or old) when we have lost a fury friend, can be quite healthy and comforting.
Are we saying, “to each his own”? Why, yes, that’s very much what we are saying about pet caskets.