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Pets are not only for life. Many pet owners are now looking at ensuring that the apple of their eyes rest in peace after life too. In the process, they are providing a fillip to the concept of pet cemetery which is slowly but steadily gaining popularity among the people.
The two most sought after pet cemeteries, in the City, are the People for Animal’s Wildlife Rescue Centre in Kengeri and the Whispering Meadows near Kothanur.
The People for Animal’s Wildlife Rescue Centre has a licence to operate, rescue and rehabilitate urban wildlife. The pet cemetery is only an extension of their services.
Kiran Sikandar Rudra, general manager of the Centre, explains that they decided to add on a pet cemetery more than five years ago, after repeated requests by pet lovers. “The concept of giving your pet a decent farewell and burying them in a cemetery has caught on only now. Here, the pet is laid to rest with a lot of dignity and respect,” he says.
Kiran states that the centre offers two kinds of burial. One, is the normal burial which costs Rs 4,500 for a period of two years and a special burial with a tombstone which costs Rs 20,000 for a 15-year period.
Kiran further states, “In the normal burial, we reuse the grave after a year and half due to space constraints. In the special burial, we will leave the space untouched for 15 years and the owner gets to put a photo of the pet and choose a tombstone. The money that is collected during burial, is used to maintain the grave and for de-weeding purposes,” he adds.
When asked why the centre doesn’t accommodate the burial of stray dogs, T Sreekumar, utility manager with the Kengeri Centre, reasons, “There’s a lot of space constraint and the cemetery is an add-on. Taking on stray dogs would be a huge responsibility. Currently, there are close to 50 burials that happen a month. People call and come in, we don’t have to go after them,” he adds.
The Whispering Meadows near Kothanur began as a boarding and training centre for pets but now they operate only as a pet cemetery. Dr Hemanth explains that this was started five years ago.
“The burial charges are according to the size and breed of the dogs. The smaller dogs get charged Rs 3,000, medium to large dogs are charged anywhere between Rs 4,500 and Rs 5,000 and large dogs such as Great Dane and St Bernard cost Rs 6,500,” shares Hemanth.
Here, the grave is reused only after four or five years. Pet lovers hold mixed views about pet cemetery. While some people think it is a well thought of concept, others feel that it is not worth spending such a huge amount for burial purposes.
Charu, a student of Christ University feels she would never spend such an amount on burial, although the idea seems alright. “Any pet lover would rather bury their pet somewhere close by, maybe in the compound of the house rather than some place else,” she says.
Nimitha Reddy, a digital marketing professional, doesn’t really approve of the concept of a pet cemetery. “I don’t think it’s worth spending such an exorbitant amount as burial charge. What about the stray dogs that die on the streets? At least, for health reasons, I think something similar should be done to bury the stray dogs,” he sums up.