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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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