People from around the world have honored pets upon their death and buried their beloved friends in pet cremation urns or pet cemetaries for centuries. For example, in 1986 Laurence Stager's archaeological team discovered an ancient pet cemetery with the remains of 1000 dogs dating back to the period of Persian rule from 539 to 332 BC in Palestine.

The Le Cimeti're des Chiens D'Asni?res-Sur-Seine in France features a large sculpture with the carving of a Saint Bernard carrying a child on its back. The dog, Barry, saved the lives of 40 people in the Alps before he lost his own life attempting a rescue for the 41st time. Another large tombstone?features a German Shepherd statue memorializing all police dogs who have died in action.

One pet cemetery in the United Kingdom at Brynford near Holywell in Flintshire, has won awards. Last year, for the third year in a row the pet cemetery won the distinguished award for the UK's best facility of its kind. It was from the Memorial Awareness Board, an organization run by the National Association of Memorial Masons.

Brynford's owner John Ward and his wife started the cemetery 1989, and since, more than 500 pets have been buried and or cremated there. The cemetery includes a chapel, tea rooms, a visitor center and seven and a half acres of beautifully landscaped gardens for the pet memorials. At services in the chapel a priest delivers a farewell prayer with dignity.

In America, Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory is America's oldest and most prestigious pet memorial and burial grounds. It was developed back in 1896, and by the end of the War there were more than 2,000 graves in this Westchester County, New York cemetery where pets are buried in pet urns, and pet caskets, with pet memorial markers. It all started when prominent New York City Veterinarian Dr. Samuel Johnson offered his apple orchard as a burial plot for a friend's dog. Today, there are more than 70,000 pets buried there, and many have custom pet memorial stones.

This state of the art pet crematory has a separate crematory office and offers a range of services including cremation, pet memorials, pet cremation urns and more. Plus since more than 7,000 military canines had served with such great distinction during the War, it as Hartsdale Canine Cemetery that was chosen as the location for a beautiful pet monument built for $2,500. The German shepherd status was designed by Walter A. Buttendorf and sculpted by a well known designer who was one of the builders of Grand Central Station in New York City, Robert Caterson.