Updated July 23
written by a person, not a computer
5 minute read
Hello fellow animal lovers, I’m sorry you need this content.
Losing your four legged family is so difficult, I’m genuinely sorry for your loss whether it just happened, or is approaching. About a million of us go through this each year, that doesn’t make it easier, but know that you are not alone. If you need to learn the basics of pet cremation, I recommend you read the post titled The Basics of Cremation.
If you are seeking pet funeral services for pets in and around the LA metro area, you have all three options available to you (burial + cremation), as well as aquamation which is a relatively new process that not all jurisdictions are on board with yet.
There are at least 20 businesses that provide these kinds of services in the Los Angeles area as of March 2023. We will look at 7 of them and explore their costs and options. My goal is to provide you with empowering consumer information, not to advertise for anyone, or malign their business, so no names will be used.
Location 1, classic cremation- This business has both the pick up of your pet, and the delivery of the ashes built into their prices. They offer only private cremation.
Private Cat 290 Medium dog 330 Large dog 480
Location 2, classic cremation- This business offers only private cremation as well, ashes are returned in your choice of “standard” urns, and with a paw print as well. These prices are based on your pet being delivered. They do offer pick up, at a significant premium, well over 100 in some cases.
Private Cat 300 Medium dog 390 Large dog 540
Location 3, classic cremation- This business offers private cremation, at the lowest prices I found in the area. Ashes are returned in a simple urn, if you need pet pick up, the charge is under 100 for most areas.
Private Cat 110 Medium dog 140 Large dog 200
These prices are dramatically lower. I can’t say for sure, but it’s possible that the significant differences are due to some semantics. With “Private” and “Individual” sounding the same to a consumer, but having different meanings inside a business. Most of the time “Private” means it’s just your pet in the furnace. But furnaces aren't all the same. Some crematoriums have a furnace with dividers, allowing many animals in at one time, but still keeping them separate allowing ash collection. This is dramatically more efficient with fuel and labor, perhaps allowing the savings to be passed on to you. Just a theory, not necessarily a fact.
Location 4, aquamation- This business will pick up for free from their network of local vets, and allow drop offs, but do not do home pick up. All aquamation is private. A choice of urns is provided as well as a paw keepsake.
Private Cat 300 Medium dog 300 Large dog 400
Location 5, aquamation- This business offers free local pickup and emphasized that they can aqua cremate any animal from goldfish to goats, and frequently do (recall that Los Angeles has a lot of properties with acreage, progressive ideas about animals, and interesting people, so “livestock as pets” is more common here than in other parts of the country. Ashes are returned in an urn, and a paw keepsake is included as well.
Private Cat 280 Medium dog 300 Large dog 350
Location 6, a pet cemetery- In this cemetery, the structure is that you purchase a plot, from 1300-2500 depending on the necessary size, this price includes perpetual care, and a nice casket. Then you’ll need a granite headstone, modest ones start at 350 and rise from there. So all in, you're at least at 1750, and perhaps north of 3000.
Location 7, a pet cemetery- In this cemetery, plot costs depend on the size of the animal, and range from 1600 to about 2000. This includes perpetual care of the site and the additional purchase of a headstone is not required. If you choose to though, they start close to 500. Overall at this location, burial of a cat with no headstone will cost close to 1600, and a large dog with headstone can be 2500 or more.
Summary
The Los Angeles metro area is huge, expensive, and Angelinos are very diverse people with diverse pets. It is also home to the highest celebrity population in the country. The cremation options and services available there reflect this. All crematoriums I spoke with had visitation rooms, and included urn choices and simple remembrance items, like paw prints, in the price.
Several businesses I spoke with volunteered that they regularly cremate horses, birds, reptiles and other kinds of exotic pets. Most focused on private cremation. Other notable details include…
-Always call around to check prices, both cremation and aquamation prices varied. Generally prices creep down as you get further from the city center.
-Pet cemeteries are rare in LA, likely due to the high value of land, so most are in surrounding areas. Still from downtown LA, all the cemeteries were within an hours drive.
-There are multiple cremation businesses in LA that have several locations.
-Burying a pet in your backyard is illegal, it’s only ok in a designated cemetery.
-No location I contacted in this area officially had a semi-private option. Either you pay a premium, or you get no ashes back.
-Locations offering communal cremation frequently scattered ashes at sea
-Everywhere I called answered the phone promptly, answered my questions, and were kind.
-Only one location publicly advertised their prices, but all were forthcoming on the phone.
-Though I chose not to get into the weeds with added services, all crematoriums offer many added services that will quickly escalate the price. If you want a fur clipping, nicer urn, plaster paw print, cremation casket, etc. the price can rise rapidly. However, there is no tax on services in CA.
-Most prices assume you are delivering the pet. Most crematoriums have a few local vets they work with where pick up is free or low cost, but not all. The LA metro area is nearly 500 square miles, traffic congestion is frequent. Pick up from your home can cost from 50-200 depending on the drive.
-A private cremation for a cat will likely cost about $300
-A private cremation for a medium dog will likely cost between $300-400
-A private cremation for a large dog will likely cost between $350-550
-An in-ground burial will be at least $1600 and with options can rise to $3000 or more.
-Though not my original research goal, horse cremation ranges from $2800-3200, and creates about 5 gallons of ashes requiring a specialized urn.
Sometimes people are in a rush to make cremation or funeral decisions. Slow down. Consider your options carefully, once you make these choices, there is no going back. Your four legged family will be fine lying in state at home for a day or two if that’s what it takes to do this right. You can check out this page for an eBook on how to have a pet funeral at home.
Written by Peter of Pawsitive Memorials, I"m sorry for your loss.
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