A proper farewell for your pet in Centennial
By our estimate, about 40,000 households in Centennial have a dog or a cat, and roughly 3,350 of those pets die each year. Every one of those families decides how to say goodbye. Here's how to plan yours.
- Home, garden or viewing-room farewells
- Witnessed cremation and cemetery burial explained
- Plan it all within a day if you need to
Centennial, Colorado
What planning a pet funeral in Centennial is like
Winters on the Front Range can be long and grey between bright days, and grief sometimes deepens in those months. If you notice sadness lingering, reach out to someone: a friend, a family member or a support group for people who have lost pets. Several groups in the Denver area meet in person, and many more meet online, which can be easier during bad weather.
In Centennial, many families have busy, commuting lives, and a pet's death can feel like it happened in between everything else. It helps to pause, even briefly. Gathering the whole family for a few minutes, before anyone arrives to collect your pet, gives each person a chance to say goodbye. Children can pick a toy or write a note to go along with the pet.
Families in Centennial sometimes look beyond the city for a witnessed cremation or a cemetery plot, and it can be worth it. Providers serving Denver may also cover Centennial, and a slightly longer drive can mean a farewell room, a more flexible time or a lower price for the same service. Compare the written totals, including travel.
Centennial's population is around 108,658, the 11th-largest of the 36 Colorado communities we cover. Aurora, roughly 10 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Centennial run from there.
Families in Centennial often end up using a provider from Parker (8 miles), Englewood (8 miles) and Littleton (8 miles). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
40,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Centennial
How we calculated this
108,658 ÷ 2.5 = 43,463 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 40,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
3,350
dog and cat deaths per year in Centennial, our estimate
How we calculated this
40,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 3,350 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.
Sources for the statistics above: 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 Colorado, where roughly 77.4%[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.
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) is where the Colorado figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in Centennial tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
Centennial weather and your pet's farewell
It's tempting to keep your pet in an unheated garage or shed through January, February, March, November and December until the ground softens. For a few days that can work, in a closed box off the floor and sealed from wildlife, but over weeks the temperature swings too much. For a spring burial, cremation now and burying the ashes later is kinder and simpler.
Home vet visits still happen through Centennial winters, but icy steps and early darkness slow everyone down. Clear and grit the path, leave the porch light on and book a daytime slot in January if you can. Warm the room well beforehand too; an old pet who is shivering is harder to settle.
Budgeting for a farewell in Centennial
If you'd like the goodbye to happen at home, the vet's visit is often the biggest single cost: at-home dog euthanasia averages about $410[6] nationally, against $139[7] in a clinic. Add cremation or burial, then whatever you choose for the farewell itself. Prices in Centennial will sit around these national figures, higher in costlier areas.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Colorado 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.
Burial, scattering and gathering rules in Colorado
Before you plan a graveside ceremony in the garden or a scattering on a favorite walk, check the local rules. They're mostly about protecting water and other people's land, so they focus on depth, distance from wells and streams, and permission from whoever owns the land. Here's the picture for Colorado.
To find your county or city office in Colorado, start with the official Colorado local government directory.
Start with the Colorado rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Centennial's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
From first call to farewell: the steps
- If the goodbye is planned, ask whether your vet does house calls and reserve one as soon as you can; home-visit vets around Centennial often have no free slots for several days.
- Tell the vet what you'd like around it: some quiet beforehand, some afterwards, and no pickup until everyone in the family says they're ready.
- Prepare the room: your pet's bed, a blanket, soft light, phones away.
- Give each person, including children, one small job, such as choosing a flower or reading a line.
- Say a few words. One memory per person is enough, and laughing is fine.
- Plan a second gathering around the ashes' return, so anyone who missed the first can still take part.
Anniversaries, gatherings and quiet reminders
Families in Centennial come from many backgrounds, and farewells can reflect that. Some hold a small backyard gathering; others light a candle or say a prayer. Colorado's human cremation rate is well above the national average, so an urn on the mantel or a scattering planned for next summer draws little comment. There is no deadline, and it is fine to wait before deciding.
The services page is the place to compare what is included, run the numbers with the free planning tools, read our guides and latest articles, or see how other readers answered in our polls. Close to Centennial we also cover Aurora, Fort Collins, Lakewood and Colorado Springs; the full list for Colorado and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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When would you hold the farewell?
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What kind of goodbye feels right for your pet?
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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
How do Colorado attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Colorado human cremation rate at about 77.4%[5]. We show it on the Centennial page because pet aftercare choices tend to track it: where cremation is normal for people, communal and private pet cremation are both easy to find.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Centennial?
Usually yes. Parker is about 8 miles away, Englewood is about 8 miles away and Littleton is about 8 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Is Centennial big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 40,000 Centennial households keep a dog or cat and around 3,350 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 108,658), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
How does Centennial's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Centennial, with average highs around 90°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, March, November and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
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.
Is it normal to grieve this hard after a pet's funeral?
Yes. In an RSPCA survey of more than 4,000 bereaved owners, 66.9%[9] said they were surprised by how intense their grief was. The farewell often brings the loss home rather than ending it. Be patient with yourself, keep eating and sleeping as best you can, and talk to someone who understands. Our grief check-in can help you notice when it may be time to ask for more support.
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 Colorado's cremation rate at 77.4% 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 at-home dog euthanasia at $410 (range $325-$747). 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 in-clinic dog euthanasia at $139 (range $110-$253). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [8] Across five posted US pet-cemetery price lists, the median whole-body burial for a small pet, including plot and opening/closing, was about $350. Our estimate: median of [Rainier $150 plot incl. first burial, Cedar Bend $290, Forest $350, Great River $750, Precious Memories $1,500]. How we calculate.
- [9] 66.9% of respondents were surprised by how intense their grief was after losing a pet. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
Plan your pet's farewell with us
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