Good Grief - A Visit to Hartsdale Pet Cemetery

Around Halloween, 2025, I visited Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, in Hartsdale, New York. This is near White Plains, north of NYC. Following directions on my phone GPS, I snaked my car off the highway into a residential neighborhood. Pulling up to the entrance of the cemetery, I was a bit underwhelmed. As the oldest operating pet cemetery in the world (est. 1896), this was a bit common-looking, sedate. It was not until an hour later as I hiked the grounds that I realized the grand and fancy entrance was on the North Central Avenue side of the cemetery, opposite of where I came in. That is technically the main entrance – I entered in the rear. (I know, that sounds like a bad joke about Planned Parenthood …)

The cemetery is hilly, and it is quite a workout to cover the property on foot (you actually have no choice, there are walkways and stairs everywhere, but no roads to drive on). Strange tripod-like contraptions cover the grounds supporting hoses for watering the grass. I guess what struck me most about the place was its deceptively small size. From the back entrance, you walk down a slope to the chapel. A man was inside who I later spoke with. A young woman was tending the grounds over near a house that seemed connected to the property. Maybe the owner lives there.

Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York

Turns out that the cemetery is rather large (five acres), but the eighty thousand burials here occupy a smaller space than eighty thousand full-body human burials would. The 7,000 memorials range in size from a modest stone to a full-sized (human-sized) mausoleum (for four spaniels). The front of the property is fancier and more elaborate than the rear, as one might expect. Walking down the slope, taking in the individual graves, was preferable, in retrospect, to starting at the main entrance and climbing uphill. Of course, I ended up hiking up the hill afterward anyway to exit the property and get back to my car. 

Many of the grave markers are adorned with ceramic photos of the deceased. What is it with people’s interest in animal grave photos? There certainly seem to be more pet photos on pet gravestones in pet cemeteries than there are ceramic photos of deceased humans on human gravestones in human cemeteries. Pet photos from gravestones garner so many likes on Instagram! Is it just because people generally enjoy posting and looking at pet photos in general on social media? 

My friend @photosofcemeteries by the way, has found and posted some astoundingly interesting ceramic gravestone pet photos, and I am totally in awe of how many likes she gets! Every once in a while I will find an unusual ceramic photo, but usually they are fairly straightforward photos of the dog in question.

Pet cemeteries exist, and while they are certainly fewer in number than people cemeteries, they are also rather difficult to find. I’ve been to some that do not appear on internet-based maps. For instance, Pine Forest Pet Cemetery in Stafford, New Jersey. Nicely maintained, fairly large. See if you can find it on any map. Go ahead, I’ll wait …..

See? Maybe if you had a paper map showing all the sand roads in the Jersey Pine Barrens, you might find it. 

Monument to War Dogs of WWI, Hartsdale

Clara Glen Pet Cemetery in Linwood, New Jersey, is smaller, yet it seems to appear on all maps. Truth is, the ones that do show up on maps seem to be hit or miss. Hartsdale you would expect to see on all the maps (and so it does), as it is probably one of the most expansive, and certainly is the oldest ACTIVE pet cemetery in the WORLD. Even though it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, it is NOT the fanciest, or most elaborate pet cemetery! I’ve been to Sea Breeze Pet Cemetery and Crematory in Huntington Beach, CA – a city where even the pizza delivery guy drives a Porsche! That one was quite elaborate, but oddly, the species were segregated. Dogs here, cats over there.

Hartsdale’s inclusiveness broadened at some point from its original designation as a “Canine Cemetery” to an all-inclusive, non-denominational pet cemetery. Not only dogs, but other species as well – cats, birds, horses, monkeys, humans. Yes, humans … even lions and tigers (but no bears, as far as I can tell). So not only is Hartsdale nondenominational, but it is also non-species specific. They of course are a member of the IAOPC, the International Association Of Pet Cemeteries & Crematories (which you may not have even known existed). This certification organization represents “best practices in pet cremation care and pet crematory management,” which are made up of 450 standards for compliance.

The Walsh mausoleum, which is home to four spaniels (one named "Toodles")

I was intrigued from the inscriptions I saw that at least two humans seemed to be buried among the guinea pigs, lizards, and monkeys in Hartsdale. I asked the gentleman in the office if this was the case, and he said yes - but they have to be cremains (see reference). I was rather shocked to read in Hartsdale’s brochure that “over 800 humans rest with their pet companions at Hartsdale!”

Buried together ...

“New York is finally allowing pet owners to rest in peace next to the living creatures who provided so much comfort, companionship, and happiness during their time on earth. After all, it doesn’t quite make sense that humans could be buried in pet cemeteries, but not vice versa.”  Read More: https://www.natureknows.org/2021/03/new-law-allows-pets-to-be-buried.html

There is also a memorial at Hartsdale to the millions of animals “taken" or sacrificed for medical research. I always hated that term, “sacrificed.” I used to do medical research in a teaching hospital and they would use that term to describe how they killed sheep. We killed them. Sure, they were “sacrificed,” but we flat-out killed them in the name of science. The general public is probably most aware of the 2013 ban on testing cosmetics on animals and on selling cosmetics tested on animals. This began with the European Union, and is spreading across the globe, as companies find alternatives for cosmetics testing that uses animals. https://www.humaneworld.org/en/issue/cosmetics-animal-testing-FAQ

"Queenie's" memorial

It is interesting (to me) to note that I’ve seen monuments in two cemeteries that acknowledge humans who have donated their bodies for scientific research. Both Hershey Cemetery in Hershey, PA and Lawnview Cemetery in Rockledge, PA have specific sections for people who have donated their bodies to science.

"Sammy"

I get it, people love their pets. I’ve kept animals at various points in my life. Kept them happy and safe, I believe. I understand that people can become very attached to their animals, and the idea of "good grief" seems to be a resounding theme at Hartsdale. Still, whenever I visit a pet cemetery, I cannot help but think how people can devote so much love, attention, and money to their pets, while there are people around them who are starving to death. We memorialize “Boots” but many people die friendless and end up being buried as relative unknowns in potters’ fields. But is there anything really wrong with that? Is there some rule or guide to indicate for us what creatures we should focus our attention on? No.

Hartsdale Pet Cemetery is a landmark to whatever – our devotion to our animal companions, I guess. According to its brochure, the Lonely Planet Travel Guidebook lists this cemetery as one of the top ten burial grounds on earth, along with the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Giza. As Brad Warner says in his book, Hardcore Zen, "Truth doesn't screw around, and truth doesn't care about your opinions." Perhaps visit in the spring, when all the trees and flowers are in bloom. It is an oddly comforting place, much more so than a people-only cemetery.