Owners bid farewell to 82 dogs, cats and rabbits since opening of Spain's first public pet cemetery in June

The first public pet cemetery in Spain started up last June at the Parcemasa facilities of Malaga city council and in these six months it has helped bid the last farewell to 82 animals (61 dogs, 18 cats and 3 rabbits).

This was explained by the city hall's environment councillor Penélope Gómez, together with the manager of Parcemasa, Federico Souvirón. Gómez took stock of its first six months in operation, which she said has been "modest", but explained that there is interest and that animal owners have come from other parts of the province, as well as from the provinces of Cordoba, Granada and Jaén.

Of the 82 services carried out, 62 have been cremated (32 individually and 30 collectively) and 20 have been buried (17 in the forest in the animal cemetery and three in the pet memorial park, just in front of the main building of this facility). Gómez pointed out that the 24-hour psychology service at the cemetery park had also helped the pet owners to cope with their grief, in at least five cases.

"The relationship with the animals is very strong for many, and they suffer the real pain of their loss," the manager of the cemetery said. "The service is free and universal," Souvirón explained, adding that it is when they see that emotions are particularly overwhelmed that they offer it to families who are going to say goodbye to their pets. He pointed out that the psychology service at the general cemetery currently attends 2,000 grieving families a year.

Parcemasa's fees for pets, which will be increased next year with the rise in the CPI consumer price index, estimated to be around 2.8 percent, are currently as follows: cremation of animals weighing less than 30 kg is 170 euros, and for animals weighing more than 30 kg it is 190 euros. For collective cremation, the costs are 40 and 60 euros respectively. Pets can also be buried in the memorial park: pets under 30 kilograms for ten years with maintenance costs 250 euros, which can be paid annually (25 euros). In this case, pets weighing more than 30 kilograms also have the same price. If the number of years of burial is increased to two decades, the cost is 350 euros, and if 30 years, the cost rises to 425 euros.