I especially like to visit pet cemeteries. There aren’t many of them, so they’re always a treat. There’s something about the loving, cute memorials to these furry family members that seems especially sweet. There’s almost always a photo. And the pet always has the owner’s last name.
Even the website findagrave.com lists the pet cemeteries, and the pet memorials, just like those of humans. The laws seem to vary from county to county about whether animals can be buried with humans, but most cemeteries separate human and non-human burials.
We found the Chehalem Pet Cemetery in a far corner of the Valley View Memorial Park in Newberg, Oregon, behind a tall row of arborvitate. There’s a small garden area with a sign and animal statuary to mark the large area only partly full of memorials.
Someone built a “rainbow bridge” in the corner of the pet cemetery. The colors have almost completely faded, but if you look at it up close, you can see the faded paint colors in the layers of bended wood.
Left, a very sweet family of canine loved ones.
As some who has buried more than one pet (hamsters, goldfish, etc.) in a corner of the backyard, and as someone who has dug numerous holes in various yards for landscaping, I know that at-home burials for pets aren’t necessarily permanent. I think pet cemeteries are a lovely option to have a furry family member rest in peace without being dug up for a tree or shrub.
Stump and Lamb explores personal growth and meaning via travels to pioneer cemeteries of the West.
This post was originally published at michellerau.com.
michelle rau 
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