Pet cemeteries

You are not allowed to bury your pet in a public space. However, if you do not have your own garden, you can have your pet buried in a pet cemetery. Grieving pet owners can find a special place to commemorate their pet here.

There are usually several options available for burial in a cemetery, from anonymous burial of the pet or burial in a collective grave, to individual burial in a row grave. Costs and procedures vary from cemetery to cemetery and depend on how long the grave will remain in place, which generally ranges from 1 to 20 years.

For pet owners who would like to bury their pet, there are pet cemeteries at Tierfriedhof am Wisenberg and Tierfriedhof Emmenbrücke. In Germany, there are many pet cemeteries. In southern Germany, for example, in Müllheim, provided by the Tierschutzverein Markgräflerland. In Austria, there is the Tierfriedhof Wien, for example. In France, there are around 30 animal cemeteries. For example, in Alsace, the Centre de crémation et cimetière pour animaux de compagnie and in the Lyon area the Cimetière pour animaux familiers.

Alternative natural burials in what are known as farewell forests or cemetery forests are also becoming increasingly popular. These options offer burial of pets in a forest. These are not traditional pet cemeteries. A farewell forest remains a forest in a statutory sense, and grave care is taken over by nature. Grave decoration or planting are not provided for, but the graves are usually marked, for example, with untreated wooden signs.