Mary Allen
If you have to let the dog go, it breaks your heart. Anyone who has the dog cremated can say goodbye and bury the animal with dignity.
Saying goodbye to a beloved animal is always difficult. With your dog or cat, you lose a loyal companion with whom you spent a lot of time and who significantly enriched and shaped your life.
The desire for an appropriate burial is therefore understandable. After all, there are many good memories and endless love attached to the animal and you need a place to mourn. Just as you give a person a dignified last course, you should also decide the same for your animal.
Fortunately, there are now various burial options for pets such as dogs and cats in Germany. If you do not own property, there are two alternatives:
- the cremation
- burial in a pet cemetery
Because of the lower prices and easier urn storage, many pet owners choose to have their dogs cremated.
But no matter which of the variants you choose: With both burials, you pay respect to the beloved animal and it finds its last resting place with dignity.
We have collected all questions, answers, and tips about the cremation of the dog or the funeral for you in this guide. So you are well prepared and informed when the day finally comes.
Where can I have the dog cremated?
There are now special animal crematoria in many regions of Germany that will cremate your animal at an acceptable price. In Germany alone, more than 20 companies offer this type of cremation – and the trend is rising, as further systems are being planned.
The funeral directors pick up the deceased dog either from the veterinarian or at home. Alternatively, you can bring your deceased loved one to the crematorium yourself. The veterinarian can certainly provide information on where the nearest animal crematorium is.
What happens when the dog is cremated?
Before the cremation, the undertaker weighs the animal’s body and places it in a tub. In order to avoid confusion, in many crematoria, a refractory brick with a control number is left with the deceased pet.
Before the cremation, you still have time to say goodbye to your dog. The animal lying on the drive-in carriage then drives into the incinerator after the oven has been activated. The corpse is laid on the bottom of the furnace. After the cart has returned, the oven door closes.
Depending on the size and body weight of the dog, the burning process takes between 30 minutes and two and a half hours at a temperature of 850 to 1,100 degrees. The weight is reduced to about three percent. A 70 kg Great Dane has around 2.1 kg of ash left over after incineration, while a 2.5 kg Chihuahua has only 75 grams.
As a rule, you can watch the cremation in the animal crematorium from a farewell room via the monitor. In the end, after a cooling phase, you will receive either roughly structured or finely ground ashes from your dog, which you can fill into an urn or store in another suitable container.
Cremation of a dog: how much does it cost?
Such a cremation is not cheap, but the price is still much cheaper than that of a deceased person. The costs vary from undertaker to undertaker. For a small dog weighing up to ten kilos (such as a beagle), you have to calculate around 150 to 175 euros. The cost for a large four-legged friend (such as a Newfoundland dog) weighing up to 60 kilograms is around 200 to 275 euros.
Prices of around 300 euros are charged for an even larger dog. In addition, there may be transfer fees, holiday surcharges, and the fee for the document.
In addition, many pet owners want an ashtray for their deceased loved ones. Depending on the model, the price for urns is between 40 euros and several hundred euros.
Collective cremation as a cheaper solution
A cheaper alternative is collective cremation and subsequent burial in a collective grave or scattering the ashes in a specially designated field. In this case, the body of your dog (or even a cat) is burned along with other four-legged friends.
Cremation of a dog: can you take the ashes home with you?
What is forbidden for people in Germany is allowed for pets: you can take your pet’s ashes home with you. Of course, this is only possible if you decide to have an individual cremation in the animal crematorium. In this case, you will only receive the remains of your loved one who has fallen asleep forever.
Most dog owners keep the ashes of their beloved four-legged friend in an urn. There are now many beautiful models in simple or complex design. If desired, the urns can be embellished with a portrait of your four-legged friend.
The right place for the urn
Such artfully designed vessels are an ornament in the showcase or on the shelf. They are often given a place of honor in the living room or bedroom so that your faithful friend is always with you even after his death.
You can also bury the urn in the garden and create a small tomb for it. However, most urns are far too good for that. That’s why the undertaker is happy to give the ashes in a box or bag.
Tip: If you remove a strand of fur before the cremation or make a plaster cast of your paw, you have another lasting memory of your dog. Beautiful pieces of jewelry can be made from fur, for example.
Creating a memorial diamond is exclusive but expensive. The carbon is sorted out from the fur hair or the cremation ashes, which are converted into graphite and finally into a diamond. This happens due to high temperatures and extreme pressure. The prices for such diamonds are several thousand euros.
Can you scatter the ashes in nature?
We know it from the formerly common burial at sea: in the past, the ashes of a deceased were scattered from the ship onto the sea. Today you need a water-soluble urn for this. This is a more or less anonymous type of burial, as there is no grave marked by name.
In many federal states, the above-ground scattering of human ashes in the open air is probably also prohibited for reasons of piety. There are exceptions to this in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bremen. A so-called aerial burial from an airplane, hot-air balloon, or helicopter is permitted in exceptional cases in specially designated regions over the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.
In some places, the cemeteries have ash litter meadows, although the name is often deceptive. The urns are often buried in a collective grave field.
Such ash litter meadows are also part of many animal cemeteries. However, the law distinguishes between animal and human ashes. In the case of animals, reasons of piety play less of a role. There is nothing toxic about the cremated remains because they are mostly composed of calcium. In Germany, for example, you can scatter the ashes of a dog or cat in your own garden or in nature.
The only requirement for this is that you have the ashes finely ground in the crematorium and that you act as discreetly and considerately as possible towards other people in public.
Can you bury the dog too?
As an alternative to cremation, you can of course also bury your dog in a pet cemetery after death. However, the costs for this are relatively high. The initial lease for the grave often runs for two to three, sometimes five years. An extension is possible at any time.
The burial of a four-legged friend weighing a maximum of 15 kilograms (e.g. a border collie) costs around 150 euros. If the dogs weigh more, the price increases to around 250 euros. In addition, there is an annual lease of around 50 euros. In some cities, however, the prices are much higher. The commemorative plaque will cost you another two to three-digit sum.