Cremating Your Dog Is Less Expensive Than You Might Think

As dog parents, we seek to explore every option to provide our companions with the healthiest, longest lives possible, from the best dog food to keeping them safe through all seasons.

Eventually, whether due to illness, perhaps because of old age, or otherwise, the time may arise to discuss how much it costs to cremate your dog.

Below, we explore what happens once your companion dog reaches the conclusion of their life and the options that pet parents can explore to honor them.

According to MetLife Pet Insurance, when the time arrives to consider post-life options for your dog, several factors may affect the cost of cremation, including the dog's size and where the cremation will occur. However, the general range for the cost of cremation services is about $30 to $300, according to the insurance company.

Pet insurance companies typically do not cover animal cremations.

From personal experience, additional end-of-life costs add up quickly. Costs may be incurred if the family wishes to have the ashes returned in a keepsake urn. Families must also factor in a price difference depending upon whether the service is arranged through a veterinary office or a private business, as well as if a family chooses to arrange for an in-home euthanasia.

It will generally cost more to cremate larger breeds of dogs, according to MetLife; also, businesses that offer these services in more populous cities will likely charge a higher price than those from smaller towns.

The process by which the dog is cremated will also affect the price. Usually through a tiered system, it is cheapest when a dog's remains are processed with those of other animals, in which case the ashes will not be returned.

Families can expect to pay incrementally more for individual and private cremations, which ensures the dog's remains are returned to the pet parent with the peace of mind that most, or all, of the ashes belong to your dog, per MetLife.

According to the New York-based Paws at Peace, a water-based cremation process called aquamation offers pet parents a more environmentally-conscious alternative to the traditional fire-based process.

A sampling of service prices around the U.S. include:

• At New York City-based Pet Haven, customers should expect to spend between $200 and 450.
• At the Oregon Humane Society, it will cost between $7 to $350.
• At West Valley Humane Society in Idaho, cremation services range from $48 to $610.
• At Paws in Paradise in Texas, prices range from $115 to $235.
• At the Colorado-based A Paws in Time, prices range from $125 to $475.

According to the insurance company Choice Mutual, prices for pet burial range from $0 for an at-home burial, to upwards of $9,000 for mummification.

As a general rule, the size of a plot for your dog's burial will impact the cost, which typically ranges from $400 to $600, not including the casket, per Choice Mutual.

Additional sampling of burial prices around the U.S. include:

• Cedar Bend Humane Society in Iowa charges between $290 and $520.
• The starting price for a plot and burial at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in New York is $3,000.
• The famous Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park charges by size, and the price for a large dog, for example, would cost a minimum of nearly $1,000, per Nationwide.
• At Dixie Memorial Pet Gardens in Tennessee, the minimum price is $700.
• At the Humane Society of Greater Miami, it will cost between $160-200 to have a pet cremated, based on their weight, and buried at their cemetery.