Saying goodbye to your pet in Delaware, your way
By our estimate, about 17,000 households in Delaware have a dog or a cat, and roughly 1,450 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
Delaware, Ohio
A goodbye that fits life in Delaware
In a fast-growing city like Delaware, many families have arrived recently and their close friends may still live elsewhere. When a pet dies soon after a move, the loss can feel doubly isolating. Online communities and pet loss helplines bridge that gap, a coworker who owns animals may understand more than you think, and new neighbors are often kinder than you would expect once you tell them what happened.
Some Delaware families invite friends over after the ashes return, passing around stories and photos with relatives. Others mark the pet's birthday or adoption day by planting something new. The timing is up to you, and nothing has to happen in the first month. The point is to give the loss a place and let the people who cared about your animal say goodbye their own way.
Pet cemeteries are rarer in and around Delaware, so families who want a permanent grave often choose the garden instead, or bury the ashes after cremation. If you rent, or might move, burying ashes in a large planter or keeping them at home keeps the memorial portable while still giving you a graveside moment.
Delaware's population is around 46,636, the 24th-largest of the 106 Ohio communities we cover. Columbus, roughly 23 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Delaware run from there.
Delaware sits within easy reach of Powell (8 miles), Dublin (13 miles) and Westerville (14 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Delaware; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
17,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Delaware
How we calculated this
46,636 ÷ 2.5 = 18,654 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 17,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
1,450
Estimated dog and cat losses in Delaware each year
How we calculated this
17,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,450 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
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.
Funeral traditions in Ohio and your pet
In Ohio, about 59.1%[5] of people are cremated, a share that has been climbing. Pet farewells are changing in the same way. More families now hold a small ceremony at home or in a crematory's farewell room, and fewer dig a grave in the yard, especially in suburbs where lots are small or rented.
We take the Ohio rate from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). It is a human statistic; there is no equivalent pet figure for Delaware, and we would rather show a real number than invent one.
Planning an outdoor goodbye in Delaware's climate
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 21°F in Delaware, 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.
Snow and ice across January, February, March and December can delay collection and make roads unsafe for relatives driving in. If your pet is old or very ill and a winter storm is forecast, it's reasonable to ask your vet now how a home goodbye and collection would work in bad weather, rather than on the night.
The real cost of a pet goodbye in Delaware
Ask every provider in Delaware 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.
The Ohio price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Permissions to check in Ohio before the ceremony
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 Ohio says.
Ohio keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Delaware.
The rules that apply across Ohio (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Ohio page. Delaware may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
Planning a farewell in Delaware, step by step
- Take a breath. If your pet has died at home, lay them on their bed or a towel in a cool room. Nothing has to happen in the next hour.
- Decide cremation or burial first. Everything else, the timing of the goodbye included, follows from this single decision.
- Call the vet, crematory or pet cemetery to hold a time, and ask whether they can keep your pet cool until then.
- Send one short message giving the place and time to the handful of people you want present.
- Choose a spot and one small ritual: a lit candle, a song, a note beneath a paw, or their best-loved toy beside them.
- Hold the farewell, and afterwards either bury your pet or pass them over to whoever is collecting.
- Ask for the written total ahead of the pickup, with any viewing or ceremony charge included.
After the farewell: ways to keep the memory close
Students and staff at Ohio Wesleyan, and young families across the county, sometimes face their first pet loss here. A simple farewell helps: a few words, a photo, a candle lit on the table. Children can make a drawing or a short letter to send along with your pet before cremation, and talk plainly with them about what death means and why it happened.
the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, Every option Delaware families choose between is on the services page, or see what other families chose in the poll results, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover Dayton, Akron, Cincinnati and Cleveland, and every city in Ohio.
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.
What kind of goodbye feels right for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Who would you want at your pet's farewell?
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
Will I have to travel to Columbus to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Columbus (roughly 23 miles from Delaware) 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.
Does the Delaware climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 85°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March 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.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Delaware?
Usually yes. Powell is about 8 miles away, Dublin is about 13 miles away and Westerville is about 14 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Roughly how many pets die in Delaware each year?
Our estimate is around 1,450. It comes from Delaware's population (about 46,636), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 17,000 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Will I need to book a pet farewell in advance in Delaware?
Going by our estimate of 17,000 dog- or cat-owning households in Delaware, roughly 1,450 of their pets die each year, so local vets and crematories handle goodbyes every week. Collection and standard cremation rarely need long notice. In-home vet visits, viewing rooms and witnessed cremations are limited, though, so book those as soon as you know the date, particularly for weekends.
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%[7] 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 Ohio's cremation rate at 59.1% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] 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.
- [7] 66.9% of respondents were surprised by how intense their grief was after losing a pet. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
Get pet farewell options in Delaware
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