From a historical point of view, different cultures are known to have buried pets, in reverence to the emotional and, in certain cultures, spiritual bond forged between pets and their masters. As such, officially sanctioned and zoned pet cemeteries do exist, with some open to the general public, while others take on an exclusive approach in granting burial plots for pets.
Here are two of the world’s most famous pet cemeteries.
Cimetiere Des Chiens
Located in Asnières-sur-Seine in Paris, France, Cimitiere Des Chiens is one of the most visited cemeteries in France, reputed for being the oldest public pet cemetery for dogs and other domestic animals. It is often part of many “dark tours” or cemetery tours in France, considered to be a venue of interest for tourists given its unique history.
Established in 1899, Cimetiere Des Chiens came in response to a law which stipulated that pet owners could no longer dump the dead bodies of their pets in the Seine River.
The most famous grave in Cimetiere Des Chiens is that of Rin Tin Tin’s, who starred in different Hollywood movies.
The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory
The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory is famed to be the final resting place of over 70,000 pets. It is America’s oldest pet cemetery, with a history that dates back to 1896, when veterinarian Samuel Johnson allowed a friend to burry his dog in Johnson’s apple orchard.
It is considered to be the most prestigious pet cemetery in the nation, argued to be the oldest and still operational pet cemetery in existence (with debates in relation to its actual founding, arguing that it turned into a cemetery for pets over time, not necessarily starting out as an officially identified cemetery for pets).
It hosts the War Dog Memorial which was erected in 1923, and is even ranked as one of the Top 10 Cemeteries in the World.
So there you have it. Two of the world’s most famous pet cemeteries.
The odds of Stephen King being inspired by these two in authoring his bestseller Pet Sematary is nill, but the pet-owner devotion which led to their foundation surely had an impact in the author, who is famed for writing stories which are driven by researched stereotypes of the human condition.
