Central Park’s Beloved Pet Memorial Tree Has Died — And Humans Are Likely To Blame

“It just feels so empty. All there is, is just an empty feeling,” Britney Vega mourned to NBC News, recalling her first holiday without her two dogs, who died in the winter last year. Pebbles and Chester had been a part of Vega’s life for the past fifteen years. They were a perfect pair; there was never one without the other. Both of them grew up together and crossed the Rainbow Bridge together, which means they passed away. On the day of this interview, she was visiting Central Park to pay tribute to her two friends. Here, in the park, an 18-foot Hinoki cypress tree tucked deep inside the Ramble dedicated a branch of itself to preserve the memories of Pebbles and Chester, along with the memories of countless pets from the city.

It jangled with glittery ornaments and rustled with everything from laminated polaroids to postcards, pet photos, love notes, heartfelt letters, ribbons, dog collars, pet toys, and whatnot. Dubbed the “Furever Tree,” this humongous beast doubled up as a healing spot for those who hadn’t gotten over grief after losing their beloved pets. However, in the winter of 2024, the tree started dying. Seeing it suffer, the park’s officials had no choice but to cut it down, according to a report by ABC 7 New York.

Up until the previous year, tons of the city’s residents visited the tree to dedicate tearful tributes to their pets, including dogs, turtles, cats, bunnies, birds, horses, hamsters, fish, and squirrels. This included Pebbles and Chester, too. Each year, the tree was decorated around Christmas and Thanksgiving, and pet parents rode in their cars and bicycles to come here and spend some time with the memories of their pets who had passed the Rainbow Bridge, a mythical meadow which is believed to be the resting place of pets when they die. Many of the visitors choked up when they visited, including Vega.

After the news broke out that the tree was dying and had to be lopped off, pet parents across the city felt a void materializing in their hearts. There was no place now where they could preserve their pets’ memories and share them with fellow pet owners. On the other side of all this, a woman named Marianne Larsen got busy in her mission to reunite the ornaments left over by the cut tree with their rightful pet owners. In the basement of a building on the Upper East Side, she started sorting and organizing the ornaments and photos from the secret memorial pet tree to return them to their owners.

Although the main reason why the tree started dying is unknown, the park’s conservancy hinted that the tree likely died due to “a combination of environmental stress and wear on the landscape,” according to a conservancy spokesperson, per West Side Rag. Additionally, droughts, rough winter conditions, soil compaction, and too many ashes disrupted the life flowing in its veins. If you left a keepsake at the "Furever Tree," you can contact Larsen via email: Mglarsen55@gmail.com.

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