I dont remember why I picked this.
I was the first person in my family to have a dog.
I figured Id be the first one to lose a dog too.
Getty / Tim Hopf / EyeEm
She didnt, of course.
My dog was exquisite, a cantankerous bundle of love and light.
She was not a default font.
Courtesy of the author
She also wasnt a teardrop urn with paw prints running along the side.
She wasnt a box with a ceramic dog on top that looked nothing like her.
She wasnt a cheap bracelet that held her ashes either.
She was my dog, and she was dead.
She deserved a better final resting place than that ugly box.I deserved better too.
I soon discovered that what we do with our pets after they die is its own industry.
And in the case of dogs, they were often both pets and working dogs.
Most people who lived in the country would have just buried their dog, she says.
One big problem: pet owners didnt have acres of land in which they could bury their pets.
Eventually a pet cemetery evolved out of that, Martin explains.
The cemetery was incorporatedin 1914and local townspeople became caretakers after Johnson died.
Ed Martin Sr. owned a monument lettering business, and one of his main clients was the pet cemetery.
Hartsdale is now the final resting spot for nearly 80,000 pets.
They offer burial and funerals, but also cremation services.
When I was younger and I hadnt experienced losing a pet, I didnt really understand, he recalls.
Then he lost his first pet, and he got it.
Sometimes I hear from people who say, I lost both parents and I lost my pet.
I feel guilty about that.
I cant tell you how many times Ive heard that comment.
The pet section also has a memorial to K9 and military dogs.
They do funerals and viewings daily.
We can have as many as 70 officers and K9s attend the service, she says.
Its going to look like that mannequin, he explains.
Thats not an option that ever crossed my mind, and even writing that last paragraph made me gag.
The business isnt just bigger than they expected, but also more satisfying than they could have imagined.
Its so rewarding when we get these nice reviews.
We get into nice conversations with people on the Internet, Margo told me.
Thats where their pets are going to be, Darrell added.
Thats how I started talking to the couple.
Courtesy of the author
When I opened the urn, it smelled like my grandfathers woodshop.
It felt good to get rid of that junk.
Plus, I had a new dog to think about.
Shes probably three years old and, at 30 pounds, feels like a giant compared to Emily.
She looks like a deer, a fox, or a coyote, depending on the day.
Ive thought (like that customer of the Magnussens) of buying Annies urn now.
Maybe pet owners will have different options in the 10 years or so (I hope longer) ahead.
Jen A. Miller is the author ofRunning: A Love Story.
