Pet funerals and farewells in Oakdale
By our estimate, about 11,500 households in Oakdale have a dog or a cat, and roughly 940 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 Oakdale by email
Oakdale, Minnesota
What planning a pet funeral in Oakdale is like
Roughly 68.5% of Minnesotans are cremated, and many Oakdale households take a similarly practical path for their animals. A memorial might be a candle and a few photos on the night the urn comes home, or a family visit to the nature preserve to share stories. Giving children a task, such as picking the photo for the frame, helps them feel part of it.
Veterinarians around the east metro can often come to an Oakdale home for euthanasia, sparing an anxious animal the drive and the waiting room. The final moments can happen on a favorite cushion, with the family gathered or with just one person present. The aftercare provider collects afterward at a time you agree on, so the goodbye itself never has to be rushed.
Working dogs, barn cats and old ponies are part of family life around Oakdale, and their farewells often happen where they worked: by the barn, at the edge of the field or on the porch step. A few words from whoever worked alongside them and a quiet minute with the other animals nearby honours the job they did.
About 30,588 people live in Oakdale, which makes it the 34th-largest of the 67 Minnesota communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Oakdale are based about 7 miles away in Saint Paul, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
Nearby, we also have local pages for Maplewood (4 miles), White Bear Lake (6 miles) and Woodbury (6 miles, a larger centre), which can help if your vet or the provider you prefer is based there.
Our estimate
11,500
How many dog- or cat-owning households Oakdale has (estimate)
How we calculated this
30,588 ÷ 2.5 = 12,235 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 11,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
940
Oakdale families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
11,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 940 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.
If a number here surprises you, the primary material is Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry; we only apply it to this.
Local customs and your pet's farewell
About 68.5%[5] of people in Minnesota are cremated, so both traditions sit side by side here. Some families will instinctively want to bury their pet, others to bring the ashes home. A farewell works with either: a graveside moment in the garden or a pet cemetery, or a short ceremony before the pet is collected for cremation.
Source for the Minnesota number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Oakdale, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
When the weather shapes the goodbye
Cold weather gives you a little more time before a home farewell has to end, but it also makes outdoor goodbyes harder. With January lows near 6°F in Oakdale, keep any outdoor part short, with hats, gloves and a warm room to go back to. The words can be said indoors by the window facing the garden.
Some families in Oakdale with an old or failing pet dig the garden grave in autumn, before the ground locks up in January, February, March, November and December, and cover it with boards and a tarp. It can feel bleak to do, but it means a winter goodbye can end in the garden, as planned, instead of waiting months for the thaw.
Where the money goes in an Oakdale pet funeral
Being present costs extra. One US pricing guide says viewing or witnessing a cremation typically adds $25 to $100 [6], and the posted surcharges we found run from $25 to $350, with a median of about $125 by our estimate [7]. Ask Oakdale crematories whether a short viewing is already included before paying for a separate appointment.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Minnesota: Minnesota costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Before you dig or scatter in Minnesota
If your pet was put to sleep, the drug stays in the body, and wildlife or other animals can be poisoned if a grave is dug up. That risk is one reason home burial is regulated at all, and why a well-covered grave or cremation matters. Here's what Minnesota says.
Minnesota keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Oakdale.
We keep Minnesota's burial and scattering rules in one place: the Minnesota rules summary. Before a home burial in Oakdale, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
Planning a farewell in Oakdale, step by step
- If the goodbye is planned, ask your vet about a home visit and book it early; in-home vets serving Oakdale can be booked up days ahead.
- Tell the vet what you'd like around it: time before, time after, and collection only once the family is 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 for when the ashes come home, if more people want to be there.
After the farewell: ways to keep the memory close
Missing the routine can hurt as much as missing the animal: the feeding time, the evening company on the couch, the sound of movement upstairs. Weeks of sadness are normal, and grief often returns without warning. Twin Cities pet loss groups, some meeting online, and counselors familiar with animal loss can help, as can a friend who has been through the same thing.
Every option Oakdale families choose between is on the services page, or see what other families chose in the poll results, run the numbers with the free planning tools, read our guides and latest articles. If you live between Oakdale and Minneapolis, Duluth, Bloomington and Rochester, either page applies. Every other community in Minnesota, and all of the United States, is listed too.
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.
Should young children be part of a pet's goodbye?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What kind of goodbye feels right for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
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
Where are the providers that serve Oakdale actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Saint Paul, about 7 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Oakdale and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
How do Minnesota attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Minnesota human cremation rate at about 68.5%[5]. We show it on the Oakdale 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.
Does the Oakdale climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 81°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March, November and December, when lows sit below freezing, a home burial may have to wait for a thaw, so cremation with ashes returned keeps your options open.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Oakdale?
The closest communities we cover are Maplewood (about 4 miles), White Bear Lake (about 6 miles) and Woodbury (about 6 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Oakdale too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
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.
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.
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 Minnesota's cremation rate at 68.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Memorials.com's pet cremation cost guide says viewing or witnessing the cremation typically adds $25–$100. Memorials.com – Pet Cremation Cost Guide 2026, 2026.
- [7] Posted surcharges to witness or view a pet cremation range from $25 to $350, with a median of about $125 across four data points. Our estimate: median of [$25 guide low, $100 guide high, $150 NC provider, $350 VA provider]. How we calculate.
Tell us about the goodbye you're planning
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.