Planning a goodbye for your pet in Scottsdale
By our estimate, about 89,500 households in Scottsdale have a dog or a cat, and roughly 7,450 of those pets die each year. Every one of those families decides how to say goodbye. Here's how to plan yours.
- A simple running order you can print
- Graveside and home ceremony guidance
- Help with timing around the weather
Scottsdale, Arizona
Where a goodbye can happen in Scottsdale
In Scottsdale, where many people moved from elsewhere, a pet can be a family's steadiest companion through the changes that come with a new city. That makes the loss hard. A small farewell at home, in the courtyard or at sunrise before the heat, can help you say goodbye properly. Invite the friends and neighbors who knew your pet, and keep it as simple as you like.
Grief can feel isolating if family live far away or you're only in Arizona for part of the year. Calling the people who knew your pet, sharing photos and marking the loss together, even by video, helps. If the sadness isn't lifting after a few weeks, pet loss support groups and counselors in the Phoenix area, or your doctor, can help you through it.
Some families in Scottsdale prefer to drive their pet to the crematory themselves rather than wait for a collection. It can remove the pickup fee, lets you choose the blanket and the moment of handover, and for some the drive turns into a quiet last outing together. Call ahead so someone is ready to meet you at the door.
Scottsdale's population is around 243,006, the 7th-largest of the 29 Arizona communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Scottsdale are based about 9 miles away in Phoenix, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
Families in Scottsdale often end up using a provider from Tempe (5 miles), Mesa (8 miles, a larger centre) and Phoenix (9 miles, a larger centre). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
89,500
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Scottsdale
How we calculated this
243,006 ÷ 2.5 = 97,202 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 89,500. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
7,450
Scottsdale families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
89,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 7,450 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
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.
Where these figures come from: American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
What local burial and cremation customs suggest
Human crematoria in Arizona, where roughly 80.7%[5] of deaths end in cremation, tend to have gardens of remembrance with benches and small plaques. Some pet crematories copy the idea with a memorial wall or garden where families can scatter ashes or add a name. Ask whether there's one and what a plaque costs; it gives the family somewhere to go on the anniversary.
That Arizona rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Scottsdale only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
Planning around heat, cold and rain in Scottsdale
Scottsdale summers are hot, with July highs around 107°F. Heat changes how long a home farewell can wait. If your pet dies at home in the warm months, move them to the coolest room, lay them on a towel over a hard floor, run the air conditioning and hold the goodbye within a few hours. Ask for collection straight afterwards.
Warm weather brings flies, which can upset children at an outdoor goodbye. Wrap your pet in a light cotton sheet with only the face showing, keep the outdoor part in deep shade and keep it short. During Scottsdale's April, May, June, July, August, September and October, many families simply move the ceremony indoors, with the curtains drawn and a fan running.
What a pet funeral costs in Scottsdale
Ask every provider in Scottsdale to split the quote in two: body care (collection, cremation or burial, the container) and the farewell (viewing time, witnessed cremation, a graveside service). Seeing the two numbers apart makes it easy to drop what you don't need. The national figures below show what's typical.
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.
Permissions to check in Arizona before the ceremony
Renting changes what you can do. Many leases forbid digging, and a landlord can ask for anything buried to be removed. If you rent in Arizona, a pet cemetery, cremation, or a big garden container holding the ashes sidesteps the problem. The wider rules are below.
The official Arizona local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Scottsdale.
Start with the Arizona rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Scottsdale's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
Your checklist for the first day
- Ask the clinic for a quiet room and some time, even if the decision was made in a rush. You don't have to leave straight away.
- Don't sign the aftercare form on the spot if you're unsure. The practice can hold your pet in cold storage for a day; ask for that and take the time to decide.
- Find out which crematory the practice uses, and whether you can choose a different one or take your pet home for burial instead.
- Request a paw print or a clipping of fur before your pet leaves the room; it's much harder to arrange later.
- If family couldn't get there in time, ask if the clinic will let them come in for their own goodbye before the pickup.
- Get the aftercare price on its own line, separate from the medical bill, so you can see what the farewell part costs.
- Pencil in a gathering for later, for when the ashes are back or at the graveside, for the people who missed the day.
Remembering your pet in Scottsdale
Children and grandparents often both feel a pet's loss deeply, and in Scottsdale many households include both. Give children an honest explanation and a small role, such as choosing a stone or planting something in the yard. For older relatives, a pet may have been their daily routine. Checking in often and helping with arrangements matter as much as any ceremony.
read our guides and latest articles, The services page is the place to compare what is included, or compare your instinct with the poll results, try the free planning tools. More local pages: Chandler, Tucson, Phoenix and Mesa, the Arizona overview and every city in the United States.
Reader polls
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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
How does Scottsdale's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Scottsdale, with average highs around 107°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Winters are mild, with average lows staying above freezing, so outdoor burial or scattering is usually possible year round.
Where are the providers that serve Scottsdale actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Phoenix, about 9 miles away. That is normal for a city this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Scottsdale and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Is Scottsdale big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 89,500 Scottsdale households keep a dog or cat and around 7,450 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 243,006), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
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 Scottsdale follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
What's a viewing, and do I need one?
A viewing is unhurried time with your pet in a private room, usually at the crematory, vet or a funeral home, before cremation or burial. You don't need one, but it helps if you weren't there at the end, if relatives are arriving from out of town, or if children need to see that their pet has really died.
Can my pet's ashes be buried with me one day?
Sometimes. It depends on the cemetery's rules and local law, and many human cemeteries still don't allow animal remains in a grave. Some do, and a few pet cemeteries accept human ashes: about 800 people's ashes lie beside their pets at America's oldest pet cemetery [7]. Store the urn sealed and clearly named, and put your wishes in writing for your 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] The median price multiple of private (ashes returned) over communal cremation across 8 markets is about 2.0x, ranging from 1.25x (Tokyo) to 5.2x (Auckland). Our estimate: median(private_price / communal_price) same weight band: US CareCredit 51-70 lb midpoints (250/75) = 3.33x; Auckland 15-25 kg (445/85) = 5.24x; Norway 1-20 kg (3790/1190) = 3.18x; Singapore 10-20 kg (480/260) = 1.85x; Ontario 25-250 lb (549/279) = 1.97x; Tokyo 20-30 kg (38500/30800) = 1.25x; France 20 kg midpoints (200/95) = 2.11x; Germany range midpoints (270/145) = 1.86x. How we calculate.
- [7] The cremated remains of about 800 people are buried alongside their pets at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. VOA News – America's oldest pet cemetery, 2024.
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