OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — It's been a year since the pet addition opened in the Forest Lawn Cemetery. Hear from one pet owner about how this cemetery has helped bring her and her family closure with their dog Charlie.
- Forever Friends Pet Cemetery is Omaha's only pet cemetery
- The cemetery works with pet hospice care providers and offers funerals for pets
- Video shows Laura Quigley, a pet owner and photos of her dog Charlie.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
They’re more than just pets for many, animals are family too. A little over a year ago, Forever Friends Pet Cemetery opened in Forest Lawn. Now, it’s giving pet owners the chance to give their beloved animals a place to rest peacefully forever.
Laura Quigley got her golden retriever Charlie when she was 18 years old.
Two weeks ago her nine-year-old ‘sweet boy’ passed away.
"He loved these lamb chops, and he had a whole army of them and when he wouldn't take one and I bought him a new one that's when I knew something was really wrong,” said Quigley.
Charlie was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma - a fast-growing cancer that affects dogs.
After getting the news, her family had only two days to figure out what they wanted to do after his passing.
"So, I knew I wanted to bury him, but I didn't really know where I could do that. And he was a huge dog,” said Quigley. "And so, I couldn't also get a plot that big or like, I possibly do that myself and then that's when I found Forever Friend's Pet Cemetery."
The cemetery opened last July and is the only pet cemetery in the Omaha metro.
A spokesperson with the funeral home tells us they don't just offer burial services; they work with pet hospice care and even offer funerals for those who want one.
"Death is a part of life. If we can make that part less stressful and pain free and comfortable for our pets than that makes that ending of their wonderful life a lot better,” said Joan Tunnard, owner of Nebraska Pet Hospice.
"And they get to say goodbye with the respect that they feel their pet deserves and the service that they need,” said Carol Lynne, a funeral officiant and pet transporter.
It was the closure pet owners like Quigley and her family needed: saying goodbye to Charlie.
"He brought us so much joy and happiness that I was like, the least we can do is give him like a good death and one that's helped healing for us and then one that would make him happy,” said Quigley.
This fall, the pet cemetery will get a new addition to allow for pet owners with cremated remains to be put in a garden feature. This can be any pet whether they’ve newly passed or passed 10 years ago.
