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Cemeteries honor pets



 
 
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Old October 26th 03, 11:35 PM
Codg346
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Default Cemeteries honor pets

Cemeteries honor pets

By Kate Garsombke
Central Wisconsin Sunday

RUDOLPH - The pet cemetery in Ken Rahn's backyard is a simple, mowed path
through scrubby prairie, dotted with the memorial markers of more than 20 cats
and dogs.

An arch made of saplings marks the entrance to what he has named the Pleasant
Prairie Pet Cemetery. The atmosphere of the site, which sits at the end of a
gravel road in rural Wood County, has a "sense of quiet," Rahn said.

Of course, that's not what most people think when they hear the words pet
cemetery. During the Halloween season - or any other season - telling someone
about the pet cemetery in his back yard invites odd looks and wisecracks.
"Once they realize we're serious, then they have some interesting questions,"
Rahn said. "Pet owners, when they come to that point, they take it as seriously
as going to the vet or getting food. It's an important closure to them."
Rahn owns one of two pet cemeteries in the area. Another, Peaceful Pines Pet
Memorial in Mosinee, offers a manicured park with granite memorials, caskets,
cremation services and a scatter garden for ashes.

Shirley Graveen, who owns the Mosinee pet memorial, said she hears the jokes
and references to the Stephen King book and movie, "Pet Sematery,"at her
business. "We have a lot of clients that tell us when they heard about us, they
laughed and said, 'This is for people who are fruitcakes about their pets,'"
she said.

But the care pet owners put into memorializing their furry friends speaks of
the unconditional love people get from their animals, Graveen said. "I think
sometimes people come to visit our pets more than people in cemeteries."
About 40 cats and dogs are in her cemetery, and other animals - from canaries
to bunnies - have had their ashes scattered by their owners at the site.
A plot, pick-up service of the pet, casket, and memorial marker costs around
$550, Graveen said. The cost also includes a perpetual care fund, to ensure
that even when Graveen no longer is around, the pet cemetery will stay, she
said.

A space among the goldenrod and black-eyed Susans on the two acres of Rahn's
pet cemetery, including pick-up service and memorial marker, runs between $125
and $190, he said.

Both Rahn and Graveen consider themselves animal lovers. Among the placards,
with names like Tomcat, Stormy, Inky and Spooky, in the Pleasant Prairie Pet
Cemetery is a memorial marker for Muffin - one of the Rahn's family dogs.

"Our strongest motivation was that, as pet owners ourselves, we've always been
fortunate in having this space. We realized a lot of clients are renters who
know their stay is temporary," he said.

Another motivation was knowing that pets often are cremated in an
"unceremonious" way.
"People regard their pets as family," he said. "We've seen many people come
after the markers have been set."




 




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