Saying goodbye to your pet in Allentown, your way
About 46,500 Allentown households share their home with a dog or cat, by our estimate. When the time comes, a small farewell helps. This page covers where to hold it, what it costs and who to call.
- Real costs, not guesswork
- Ideas for including children gently
- Options that serve Allentown by email
Allentown, Pennsylvania
A goodbye that fits life in Allentown
From December to March, gray skies and short days settle over the Lehigh Valley, and a pet's empty bed can feel much louder in that stillness. Grief like that is ordinary, not excessive. Pet bereavement helplines, online support rooms and counselors with experience in animal loss are all within reach from Allentown, and several services can talk with you in Spanish if that is more comfortable.
A goodbye in Allentown might be a quiet hour in a rowhouse living room, neighbors stopping by on the porch, or a family walk through the Lehigh Parkway after the ashes come home. The city has large Puerto Rican and Dominican communities alongside long-rooted Pennsylvania Dutch families, and each brings its own customs, prayers and food. Tell whoever handles your pet which traditions matter in your house.
Home ceremonies are the most common kind of pet funeral in Allentown, and they're simple to arrange. Choose a room or a corner of the garden, lay your pet on their bed, invite the few people who should be there and plan one small ritual, such as lighting a candle or tucking a letter under their paw. Then ask the provider to collect afterwards.
With roughly 126,044 residents, Allentown is the 3rd-largest of the 36 Pennsylvania communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Philadelphia, about 48 miles (78 km) away, which is where some providers serving Allentown are based.
Our pages for Bethlehem (6 miles), Easton (15 miles) and Pottstown (26 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Allentown as well.
Our estimate
46,500
Allentown: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
126,044 ÷ 2.5 = 50,418 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 46,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
3,850
dog and cat deaths per year in Allentown, our estimate
How we calculated this
46,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 3,850 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.
We built the this numbers from Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, and both are worth a look if you want the detail.
Faith, tradition and pet goodbyes in Pennsylvania
About 61.3%[5] of people in Pennsylvania 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.
The Pennsylvania percentage above is from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) and refers to human funerals. Treat it as context for Allentown, not as a count of pets.
Planning around heat, cold and rain in Allentown
Winter farewells in Allentown often move indoors, and that can be lovely: a fire or candles, a blanket, your pet on their own bed and the family close. If you want a symbolic outdoor moment, a single lantern placed in the snow at the spot where the grave or tree will go in spring is simple and memorable.
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 22°F in Allentown, 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.
Pet farewell prices for Allentown families
It helps to see the whole bill at once. By our estimate, a typical US dog's end-of-life care comes to about $670 with a home euthanasia and private cremation, against about $399 when the goodbye happens in the clinic [6]. The farewell on top can be as small as a candle or as large as a cemetery service, so decide where the goodbye happens first.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania allows for burial and scattering
A grave in the garden stays with the house when you sell it, which is the question few people ask at the graveside. Before you bury, think about where you'll be living in five or ten years, then check the Pennsylvania notes below.
To find your county or city office in Pennsylvania, start with the official Pennsylvania local government directory.
The Pennsylvania page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. Allentown's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
From first call to farewell: the steps
- Find a small box and soft bedding, for instance a shoebox with a piece of cloth inside, or the nesting material they used themselves.
- Choose between cremation and a garden grave. A very small animal produces only a trace of ash; ask the crematory how it's kept apart from other pets' and what container it's returned in.
- For a garden grave, choose ground you're likely to still own in years to come, look up what's allowed locally, and decide on a marker, whether a potted plant or a flat stone.
- Invite whoever looked after them, and that can be just a parent and a child. Small creatures leave surprisingly large holes.
- Say a few words or read a note, then lay a flower or a pinch of their favorite food on the lid.
- Clear the cage, hutch or tank slowly over a few days, rather than the same afternoon, so the room doesn't feel suddenly empty.
Marking the loss, now and later
On the anniversary, some Allentown families revisit the rose garden in Cedar Creek Parkway, light a candle in the front window or bring a bag of food to a Lehigh Valley shelter. Kids often want a job, such as drawing a picture to lean against the urn or picking out a flower. Keeping the gesture modest means it can happen every year without strain.
look through our guides and the blog, or look at how readers voted in our polls, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, try the free planning tools. Close to Allentown we also cover Erie, Bethlehem, Scranton and Reading; the full list for Pennsylvania and for the United States is a click away.
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?
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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 many pet owners live in Allentown?
By our estimate, about 46,500 households in Allentown have at least one dog or cat, and around 3,850 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 126,044, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Why does the Allentown page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 61.3%[5] of Pennsylvania residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
How does Allentown's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Allentown, with average highs around 86°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, March and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Where are the providers that serve Allentown actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Philadelphia, about 48 miles away. That is normal for a city this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Allentown and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Can I scatter my pet's ashes in a park in Allentown?
Sometimes, with permission. Parks, beaches and nature reserves have their own rules, and many ask you to contact the park authority first. Private land needs the owner's permission. Choose a quiet time and spot away from paths and water intakes, scatter low and downwind, and consider keeping a little back in a keepsake.
Will I need to book a pet farewell in advance in Allentown?
Going by our estimate of 46,500 dog- or cat-owning households in Allentown, roughly 3,850 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.
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 Pennsylvania's cremation rate at 61.3% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] A typical US dog end-of-life bill is about $670 with at-home euthanasia plus private cremation, versus about $399 with clinic euthanasia plus private cremation. Our estimate: 410 + 260 = 670; 139 + 260 = 399. How we calculate.
- [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.