How we memorialize our pets is a very personal decision. What may feel right for one pet owner may not be adequate or appropriate for another. Recognizing this diversity among pet owners, at Thistledown we offer a number of pet memorializing alternatives.

Memorializing Alternatives Memorial Services and Funerals, Indoor Niche Wall Urn Placements, Indoor Remembrance Plaques, Outdoor Niche Wall Urn Placements, Formal Urn Burial Garden, and Woodland Urn Burials. This selection will be expanded in the future to include: Memorial Tree Planting in the Thistledown “Grove of Remembrance” or off-site by the pet owner, Memorial Bench and Trail Marker Program, Scattering Garden for ashes.

Memorial Services and Funeral Services

For some pet owners, it is necessary to say “Good-bye” to their beloved animal companion through a Memorial Service or Funeral. At Thistledown we work closely with those who will be involved in the event to make the service a celebration of the pet’s life. Family members, family friends and Thistledown staff may participate in the service to the extent deemed appropriate by the pet’s owner. Cremation may take place prior to or after the service, depending upon the wishes of the pet owner. Each service is unique with respect to service content, duration and format.

Indoor Remembrance Plaques
A number of our clients have lost a pet at some time in the past and do not have an urn of ashes for that pet. For clients such as these, we have created Indoor Remembrance Plaques. Each Plaque consists of an engraved memorial plate mounted on a burled oak plate. The plate is affixed to one of our Indoor Walls of Remembrance at a location selected by the client. There is a one-time charge and no annual maintenance fee for this service.

Once an urn is placed in the outdoor columbarium at Thistledown, the client is still in control. If, at a later date a client wishes to remove the urn for whatever reason (e.g. moves to another country), the urn can be returned. The price to place an urn in a niche includes the preparation of an inscription on a plaque that will be affixed to the face of the building. There is a one-time charge for the placement of an urn and no annual maintenance fee for this service.

Formal Urn Burial Garden
For those clients wishing to have their pet’s urn buried outside, we have established a Formal Urn Burial Garden. Unlike our columbaria, each Urn Burial compartment can only hold one “standard size” urn used by local crematoria for the ashes of dogs, cats or other small pocket pets. Ashes from larger animals (e.g. horses) may have to be placed in a different shaped urn that can be accommodated by the burial niche. With our burial niches, clients have the option of purchasing an urn vault and placing the urn in this protective container before it is buried. The price to place an urn in the Formal Urn Burial Garden includes the preparation of an inscription on the face of the granite headstone marker. There is a one-time charge for the placement of an urn and no annual maintenance fee for this service.

Scattering Gardens, Walls of Remembrance and Remembrance Columns
A number of our Thistledown clients have expressed a desire to scatter some or all of their pet’s ashes. To accommodate these clients, a number of scattering gardens will be created at various locations around the Thistledown property. It is proposed that Walls of Remembrance and/or Remembrance Columns will be erected adjacent to these gardens for those pet owners wishing to have some form of permanent memorial to their pet. There will be a one-time charge for placing a pet’s name on a Wall of Remembrance or on a Remembrance Column.

Memorial Tree Planting
Thistledown Pet Memorial is located on the Oak Ridges Moraine and much of the property is forested with oak, maple, beech and hickory. Thistledown will be establishing a “Grove of Remembrance” on the property. Thistledown clients will be provided the opportunity to plant a tree in the “Grove of Remembrance” or off-site at a location of their choice. All trees used for this purpose will be harvested from other areas of the Thistledown property.