A proper farewell for your pet in Prescott
By our estimate, about 18,000 households in Prescott have a dog or a cat, and roughly 1,500 of those pets die each year. Every one of those families decides how to say goodbye. Here's how to plan yours.
- Real costs, not guesswork
- Ideas for including children gently
- Options that serve Prescott by email
Prescott, Arizona
Where a goodbye can happen in Prescott
Many Prescott households include grandchildren who visit often and love the family pet. If a pet dies, tell them simply and truthfully, and let them join in the goodbye if they want to, in person or on a video call. Giving them something to do, like writing a letter to the pet or picking which garden bed the stone goes in, often helps them feel included.
Prescott has a large retired community, and for many residents a pet is the constant companion of their days. When that animal dies, grief can be deep, and living alone can make it harder. Friends, church groups and neighbors in Prescott tend to rally quickly, so it's fine to tell them. Hotlines for grieving pet owners also answer at night, when the house feels emptiest.
A small-town farewell can be as simple as a walk. Some families in and around Prescott take their dog's usual route one last time with the lead in hand, then gather at home for the vet's visit or the burial. It costs nothing, needs no permission and gives everyone something to do with their hands and feet while they grieve.
About 48,420 people live in Prescott, which makes it the 21st-largest of the 29 Arizona communities we cover. Peoria, roughly 71 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Prescott run from there.
Our pages for Prescott Valley (7 miles), Sedona (43 miles) and Flagstaff (62 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Prescott as well.
Our estimate
18,000
Prescott: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
48,420 ÷ 2.5 = 19,368 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 18,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
1,500
Prescott families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
18,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,500 a year. A floor, not a ceiling.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Local customs and your pet's farewell
With about 80.7%[5] of people in Arizona cremated, a cremation is the familiar end to a funeral here, and many families want a pet's farewell to echo it on a small scale. You can borrow whatever feels right: a blessing, a moment of silence, a candle, a shared meal afterwards. Whatever your family would do for a person, a smaller, simpler version usually fits a pet.
For the Arizona figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Prescott rather than as pet data.
How the seasons in Prescott affect the day
If relatives need time to arrive, the season decides where your pet waits. In the heat of June, July and August, ask the vet or crematory to hold your pet in a cold room and book a viewing there. In the freezing months, a cool room at home may be enough for a day, as long as it stays cool.
Plan the outdoor part of a farewell around Prescott's seasons. Summer ceremonies work best early in the morning, with shade and water. Winter ones work best short and close to a warm house. The shoulder seasons are the easiest time for a garden burial, a tree planting or a scattering, so many families wait for them.
Pet funeral and burial prices for families in Prescott
The ceremony itself is rarely the expensive part of a pet funeral in Prescott. The cost sits in the body care underneath it: private dog cremation averages about $260[6] in the US, and pet cemetery burial about $831[7]. A viewing may be included or charged by the half hour, and a home farewell can cost almost nothing.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Arizona overview; for what's included in each option, see our services.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What you can and can't do in Arizona
Rules for ashes are usually looser than rules for a body, because cremated remains are dry, processed bone rather than tissue. That's why burying or scattering ashes is often the simpler route to a graveside or outdoor ceremony. Here are the notes for Arizona on both.
The official Arizona local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Prescott.
We keep Arizona's burial and scattering rules in one place: the Arizona rules summary. Before a home burial in Prescott, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
Your checklist for the first day
- Decide who needs to be there. A small circle is easier to gather in a day; a bigger gathering can come later.
- Pick the place: home, garden, a favorite walk, a crematory farewell room or a cemetery.
- Check anything that needs permission, for example a burial on somebody else's property or scattering ashes in a public park.
- Plan a loose running order: gather, open, share memories, a reading or song, a ritual, the farewell.
- Arrange the handover or the burial to follow the ceremony immediately, rather than leaving people standing about.
- Look after yourself afterwards. Have a meal, accept offered help, and leave the lead hanging until you feel like moving it.
Anniversaries, gatherings and quiet reminders
A Prescott farewell might be a gathering in the garden under the pines, a few words at a favorite trail near Thumb Butte, or a quiet evening with photos around the fire. Some families hold a second gathering later, perhaps by Watson Lake or in the Dells, when they are ready to scatter ashes. Each can be as small or as full as you like.
browse in-depth guides or recent articles, or compare your instinct with the poll results, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover Glendale, Gilbert, Phoenix and Chandler, and every city in Arizona.
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 would you hold the farewell?
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Should young children be part of a pet's goodbye?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Farewell & memorial service planner
Build a simple goodbye: who, where, readings, rituals and a checklist.
Aftercare options compared
Compare private, communal and water cremation with burial on cost, timing and what comes home.
Questions people ask
Is cremation common in Arizona?
For people, yes: about 80.7%[5] of Arizona deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Prescott follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Will I have to travel to Peoria to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Peoria (roughly 71 miles from Prescott) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Prescott?
January, February, March, November and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 90°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
How many pet owners live in Prescott?
By our estimate, about 18,000 households in Prescott have at least one dog or cat, and around 1,500 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 48,420, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
What does a pet cemetery burial involve?
Usually a plot, opening and closing the grave, and sometimes a casket or shroud. Headstones and long-term grounds care are often extra. Ask who owns the land, whether the plot is protected if the business is sold, and whether you can hold a graveside service with your own readings and flowers on the day.
When is the best time of year for a garden burial or scattering in Prescott?
Spring and autumn, usually. Prescott gets both summer heat and freezing spells, so the mild months between are when soil is workable, flowers are easy to find and older relatives can stand outside comfortably. If your pet dies in high summer or deep winter, cremation lets you hold the outdoor part later, on a date that suits the weather and the family.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Arizona's cremation rate at 80.7% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [7] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for pet cemetery burial of a dog at $831 (range $659-$1,513). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [8] A full Hartsdale pet burial costs about 28 times as much as an average pet cremation. Our estimate: USD 7,000 / USD 250. How we calculate.
Plan your pet's farewell with us
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