Pet Cemetery in Perth
Pets are amazing. They have a way of working their way into our lives that makes their time of passing an unbearably painful experience. Just like a lost relative, a well loved pet has a permanent place in our hearts for ever. For many pet owners, having a visual memorial of a pet brings extra comfort and helps them to remember the good time shared together. One option for a memorial is to use a pet cemetery.
You may not have even known that these existed in Perth. Well read below to find out more, as we rank the top pet cemeteries in Perth, Western Australia.
Why a Pet Cemetery May be the Best Choice
When it comes to the passing of a pet, there are two main options to memorialise them. The first and most common option is pet cremation. You get to keep your pet’s ashes with you at home in an urn or wooden box wherever you go. It’s a perfectly valid and common choice for many pet owners. However, for a number of reasons, people may wish to have a proper bet burial, even a pet funeral service, for a permanent final resting place for their pet.
The main reasons to choose a pet cemetery over cremation include:
- You want to visit your pet but not have a continual daily reminder in your home as the grief can be too much
- You prefer not to have your pet cremated, in which case an intact pet burial is a preferred choice
- You’re renting and do not want to have to exhume your pet’s remains when you move house
- You live in an apartment or flat and don’t have room to bury your pet on your property
- Local government laws restrict the burial of pets in your location
- You’d like your pets to buried together
Pet Funeral Services
When it comes to burying a beloved cat or dog in a cemetery, a pet funeral can be an important way of having a final send off for you and your family. This time is a time to grieve, a time to reflect, but its also a time to celebrate the life of a pet that brought with them a lot of loyalty, joy and laughter.
A pet funeral service can form an important part of the grief and recovery process, especially for children. Kids can say final farewells along with sending their pet off with their favourite toys, drawing or keepsakes. It’s a process that can help ease the transition from their beloved pet being there one minute and not the next.
Pet funeral services are currently offered by Lawnswood Pet Crematorium and Passing Paws in their pet memorial garden.
Pet Headstones
Just like with people, you can elect to have a plain or elaborate pet headstone made for your beloved companion. Many pet cemeteries offer plain pet headstones or memorial plaques included in their pet cemetery plot allocations. However, some will allow you to also have a custom pet headstone engraved yourself.
A custom pet headstone can be engraved with text, symbols and even your pets portrait. Some of the pet headstones that we sell here at Perth Vet Care, include:
How to Secure a Pet Cemetery Plot for Your Pet
Where possible it pays to plan ahead. Give the pet cemetery you have selected as much notice as possible. Many pet cemeteries will take a day or two to prepare your pet for any funeral service or viewing prior to burial. This is especially important when kids are involved, as unfortunately, as with people and morticians, pets sometimes don’t look their best when they pass. A little time spent making them look nice in their final moments can add an extra level of comfort to those attending the service.
Some other things to consider prior to and leading up to a burial at a pet cemetery:
- If your pet passes naturally at home you may require a pet transport service for home collection and transport to the pet crematorium
- If you pet is unwell and requires pet euthanasia at home, you may require the assistance of a mobile vet
- You may wish to select a pet cemetery plot that allows for the burial of more than one pet at the site if you have other animals you wish to be buried alongside each other when they pass
- You can elect to have a pet buried as is, or cremated first and then buried
- It is possible to collect other keepsake items such as paw prints or locks of fur prior to burial
At Perth Vet Care we’ve partnered with Lawnswood Pet Crematorium & Cemetery in Bayswater. We offer pet euthanasia at home as well as in home collection and transport of pets for cremation or burial.
We take care of the whole process for you, including organising any viewings, cremations, pet funeral services and pet burials. That way you can deal with only one group and can focus on spending quality moments with your pet and your family during these difficult times.
Budgeting Cremation and Pet Cemetery Costs
The passing of a pet can be sudden and unexpected. The costs of vet care, cremation and pet burial can soon accumulate. At Perth Vet Care we offer Zip Pay and Vet Pay which allows you to spread these costs out over time. This can help make budgeting for pet cemetery services a little bit easier for pet owners.
Pet Cemeteries in Perth Near You
The top three pet cemeteries in Perth WA are:
1. Lawnswood Pet Cemetery
East of Perth, nestled amongst the native trees and spring wildflowers of the Avon Valley, is the Lawnswood Pet Cemetery. It is a pristinely maintained woodland pet cemetery for Perth pets.
A map at the entrance provides a guide for visiting pet owners. There are also picnic facilities nearby should you and your family wish to make a day trip to visit your beloved family pet.
Lawnswood provide three main pet cemetery options and pricing:
Standard Pet Burial Costs
Your pet is buried without cremation. Each pet has their own pet cemetery plot and engraved plaque. There are specific dog and cat cemetery areas.
Pricing:
- Tiny Pets (under 1kg): $259
- Small Pets (1 – 9kg): $355
- Medium Pets (10 – 24kg): $370
- Large Pets (25 – 39kg): $390
- Extra Large Pets (Over 40kg): $440
Ashes Burial Costs
Prior to burial your pet is cremated first. Their ashes are buried and marked with their own plot and plaque. Each plot has a number and you can use the map at the entrance as a guide to visit your particular pet’s burial site.
Pricing:
- Tiny Pets (under 1kg): $229
- Small Pets (1 – 9kg): $305
- Medium Pets (10 – 24kg): $340
- Large Pets (25 – 39kg): $360
- Extra Large Pets (Over 40kg): $410
Ashes Scattering
If you would rather have a place to visit your pet but do not wish to have them buried, then ash scattering may be the option for you. Your pet’s ashes are scattered amongst the picturesque native trees by the winter creek. An optional plaque can be placed for your pet in the area.
Pricing:
- Tiny Pets (under 1kg): $199
- Small Pets (1 – 9kg): $275
- Medium Pets (10 – 24kg): $310
- Large Pets (25 – 39kg): $330
- Extra Large Pets (Over 40kg): $380
- Optional Plaque: $30 extra
Contact Details: (08) 9248 6464
Address: Located in the Avon Valley, approximately an hours drive north east of Perth.
Website: https://lawnswood.com.au/
Map:
2. The Dog’s Refuge Home Cemetery in Shenton Park
The Dog’s Refuge Home Cemetery in Shenton Park was the first pet cemetery established in Perth. It’s been in operation for over 80 years. It’s also the closest of the three pet cemeteries to the Perth city centre.
Pricing:
- 1 x pet cemetery plot: $690 which includes a blank headstone. One plot can fit up to 3 animals
- Each additional pet is charged at $345 per animal (uncremated) or $90 per additional animal’s ashes
- Additional blank headstones: $150 each
- Headstone inscriptions: $4.20 per character.
- Pet headstone photo images: $130
The Dog’s Refuge does not offer a cremation service themselves so if using ashes you would need the service of an additional pet crematorium first.
Contact Details: (08) 9381 8166
Address: 30 Lemnos St, Shenton Park WA 6008
Website: https://www.dogshome.org.au/
Map:
3. The Corrigin Dog Cemetery
The furthest from Perth of the three options is the Corrigin Dog Cemetery, located approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes east of Perth.
Its a plot of land with over 80 dogs finally resting here in this small country town. A local resident of the town maintains the animal graveyard here.
Images above courtesy of tripadvisor.com
An iconic statue of a large dog guards the entrance.
Anyone is welcome to bury their pet here, however arrangements must be made first with the Shire office.
Contact Details: Shire Office (08) 9063 2203.
Address: Brookton Highway, Corrigin WA 6375 (5km west of Corrigin town centre)
Map:
Final Thoughts
Having a furry companion buried in a pet cemetery in Perth may not have been an option you considered before reading this article. We hope to have at least given you a few more options when it comes to dealing with this difficult time in a pet owner’s life.
Don’t forget, should you need a pet euthanasia service as well as cremation or pet cemetery arrangements in Perth all done for you, please contact us. We’re a mobile vet in Perth that specialises in end of life care, all in the peaceful comfort of peoples own home.