Since 1896, more than 70,000 pets have been buried on the beautiful grounds of Hartsdale Pet Cemetery.
At first glance, it’s easy to mistake Hartsdale Pet Cemetery for a traditional burial ground. Maybe after a few moments, you’d notice that the markers—mostly granite or marble—are slightly smaller than classic headstones. Some of the names may seem familiar—Tina, Jessica, Max—while others—Meatball, Pinky Doodle, Mr. Whiskers—might tip you off that this isn’t a somber repository for human remains.
Written content by Alexandra Charitan for Roadtrippers
But it’s the epitaphs that really bring home the feeling that this is not your typical cemetery. The heartfelt sentiment that you encounter within seconds of entering the well-manicured Hartsdale grounds is overwhelming.
“You just don’t see these kind of emotions expressed at human cemeteries,” says Brian Martin, manager of Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. When most people are buried, their grave is marked with a stone containing their name, birth, and death dates—and little else.
At Hartsdale, however, people seem much more comfortable expressing just how much their pet meant to them, engraving their stones with phrases such as: “The love of my life,” “The most loving and sincerest friend I ever had,” “I wait to join you,” and “Irreplaceable.”
“There’s a lot of love here,” says Martin.
America’s first pet cemetery
In the late 1800s, New York City made it illegal to inter pets in human cemeteries or public parks within city limits (as of 2017, that is no longer the case). In 1896, a distraught client called Dr. Samuel Johnson, the official state veterinarian of New York. Her dog had just died and she couldn’t bear to dispose of his body.
Dr. Johnson offered to inter her dog at his orchard, located about 25 miles north of the city in Hartsdale, New York. As word spread, Johnson received requests from other bereaved pet owners, and America’s first official pet cemetery was born.
A 1905 feature in the New York Times increased its recognition and prestige, and today, the five-acre cemetery is the final resting place of more than 70,000 pets. Although the wrought-iron entrance gate reads “Hartsdale Canine Cemetery,” any and all animals are accepted at Hartsdale.
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