Who we are, and why a dog cremation guide needed to exist
Most dog owners pick a crematory in the worst hour of their year, usually the one their vet names. In the UK, 89%[1] never compared providers. We built this site so you can see your options first.
- Independent guide, not a crematory
- Free request service, reply by email
- Sources shown for every number
The short version
What this site is, and what it isn't
This is an independent guide to aftercare for dogs, paired with a free request service. We write plain explanations of what happens when a dog dies, what the choices cost and how to tell a careful provider from a careless one. When you want real prices for your area, you send us a short form and we reply by email with options from providers who serve you.
We are not a crematory. We don't own cremation equipment, drive collection vans or employ vets. The cremation itself is always carried out by an independent local business, and it's that business you'll agree terms with. We'd rather say that plainly up front than have you discover it halfway through a hard week.
The problem we noticed
Why dog owners so rarely see their options
When a dog dies at the clinic, the question "what would you like us to do?" usually comes within minutes. Almost nobody has researched it beforehand. The UK's competition regulator looked closely at this and found that only 52%[2] of owners who bought a pet cremation even remembered being told the price. Put that together with how few owners shopped around and, by our calculation, only about 6 in every 100 bereaved UK owners compared providers before buying[3].
Information is thin online too. A review of US veterinary websites found only 20.6%[4] mentioned after-death care at all, and in the UK a targeted check found just 2%[5] of practice sites listing cremation prices. That leaves owners guessing at exactly the moment they're least able to shop around.
89%[1]
89% of UK owners who bought a pet cremation did not compare different providers; 9% did.
52%[2]
Only 52% of UK cremation buyers recalled receiving information on the price of the service and different packages.
20.6%[4]
Only 20.6% of reviewed US veterinary practice websites mentioned after-death body care (32% referenced euthanasia at all).
Your vet's recommendation is often a perfectly good one. We just think you should be able to see what else exists, what a fair price looks like, and what to ask, before you sign. Our six questions for any dog cremation provider came straight out of that thinking.
When your dog died, who did you call first?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Step by step
How a request works, from your form to a real quote
- You tell us the basics. Your dog's approximate weight, where they are now (home, your vet, an emergency clinic), your town or ZIP code, and whether you want ashes back.
- We look at who serves your area. That includes private and communal crematories, water cremation where it exists, and in-home vets if you mention a home goodbye.
- We reply by email. You get the options we found, what each typically includes and the price information we have, plus questions worth asking.
- You decide and book directly. You contact the provider you choose. There's no obligation to use any option we send, and we never book on your behalf without asking.
The request service is free for families: you never pay us, and any fee is paid straight to the provider you choose. If you'd rather not send anything yet, the contact page explains exactly what we collect and why.
Where the numbers come from
How we research prices, lifespans and grief
Every figure on this site links to a source you can check. We lean on large studies and official reports over marketing claims: the UK Competition and Markets Authority's final report on veterinary services and its veterinary market investigation, the US Dog Aging Project, Banfield and VetCompass lifespan data, published cost studies from CareCredit and pet insurers, and peer-reviewed grief research. Our research library lists them in full.
We try hard not to stretch a fact beyond where it applies. A UK price stays in pounds and is labeled as UK. A survey of dog and cat owners isn't presented as if it measured dogs alone. When a study is small or old, we say so in the sentence rather than hiding it in a footnote. For lifespans, for example, we use large veterinary datasets such as the US dog life-expectancy tables built from clinic records and the UK VetCompass study of more than 30,000 dog deaths, and we keep the two countries' figures apart.
Some numbers are our own estimates, and they're labeled that way wherever they appear. These are simple calculations from published data. For example, adding the US average for in-clinic euthanasia to the average private cremation gives the typical combined bill below. We show the working so you can redo it with your own local quotes.
$670 home; $399 clinic[6]
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What we promise
Our editorial standards, and the claims we'll never make
- No invented reviews or ratings. You won't find testimonials, star scores or "customer stories" here, because we'd have no honest way to verify them.
- No pretend facilities. We won't show photos of a chapel or van and imply they're ours.
- Ranges, not promises. We publish typical prices and tell you where they came from. Only a provider can quote your exact total.
- Plain wording. If a term like "partitioned" needs explaining, we explain it in one line.
- Poll results are live and unscientific. Our reader polls show what visitors chose, not what all dog owners do.
A guide that can't say "we don't know" isn't worth trusting on the things it claims to know.
If you spot a figure that's out of date or a sentence that isn't fair to providers or families, please tell us through the contact form. We review every page on a regular cycle, and the date at the bottom shows the last check.
Beyond the cremation
What else you'll find here for the weeks around a goodbye
Aftercare doesn't start when your dog dies. Many owners find the hardest decisions come earlier, when a senior dog starts slowing down. Our guide to quality of life and saying goodbye is written for that stage, and the pet age calculator shows roughly where your dog sits in their senior years.
Afterwards, there's the question of what to keep and how to cope. The services page covers urns, prints and keepsakes alongside the cremation choices, and our writing on grief is there for the quiet evenings when the house feels wrong.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
When your dog died, who did you call first?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Did you (or would you) compare more than one provider?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Who made (or will make) the aftercare decision in your household?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Questions people ask
Are you a pet crematory?
No. We're an independent guide and request service focused on dogs. We don't own or operate cremation equipment, vehicles or clinics. When you send us a request, we reply with options from independent local providers, and you arrange the service directly with the one you choose.
Do I pay anything to send a request?
No. Sending a request and reading our reply costs nothing, and you're under no obligation to use any provider we mention. If you go ahead with a cremation, you pay that provider directly under their own terms, so read their price list and ask for the total in writing before you agree.
Why do some numbers say "our estimate"?
Those are calculations we made from published data, such as combining two national averages or working out ash weight from body weight. They're useful for planning, but they're not a measured statistic. We label them clearly and show the inputs so you can check the math against your own local quotes.
Do you favor particular crematories?
We don't rank providers as good or bad, and we don't publish ratings. What we do share are the facts that matter to families: whether a provider offers private, communal or witnessed cremation, how they identify each dog, typical turnaround and what's included in the price. You make the choice.
Can I suggest a correction?
Please do. If a price looks out of date, a local rule has changed or something reads unfairly, send a note through the contact form with a link or source if you have one. We check it and update the page, and the review date at the bottom of each page changes when we do.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 89% of UK owners who bought a pet cremation did not compare different providers; 9% did. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [2] Only 52% of UK cremation buyers recalled receiving information on the price of the service and different packages. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [3] Only about 6% of all bereaved UK pet owners compare cremation providers before buying. Our estimate: 67% cremate x 9% compared = 6.0%. How we calculate.
- [4] Only 20.6% of reviewed US veterinary practice websites mentioned after-death body care (32% referenced euthanasia at all). Cooney, Kogan, Brooks, Ellis - Pet Owners' Expectations for Pet End-of-Life Support and After-Death Body Care, Topics in Companion Animal Medicine (2020), 2020.
- [5] In a CMA targeted review of UK vet practice websites showing prices, only 2% listed cremation prices. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [6] A typical US dog end-of-life bill is about $670 with at-home euthanasia plus private cremation, versus about $399 with clinic euthanasia plus private cremation. Our estimate: 410 + 260 = 670; 139 + 260 = 399. How we calculate.
Tell us about your dog, we'll do the asking
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.