Pet funerals and farewells in Highland Park
Around 270 Highland Park families lose a dog or cat each year, by our estimate. Some hold a garden farewell, some book a viewing room, some choose a cemetery plot. Here's what each involves locally.
- A simple running order you can print
- Graveside and home ceremony guidance
- Help with timing around the weather
Highland Park, Texas
Choosing where the farewell happens in Highland Park
Some Park Cities families wait until spring, when the azaleas and redbuds bloom, or for the first cool weekend of autumn before remembering their pet outdoors. Others prefer a quiet evening at home right away. There is no correct time, and some families return to a favorite stretch of Turtle Creek on the anniversary each year to remember together, often bringing a fresh flower.
Busy families are sometimes surprised by how hard pet loss hits. Grief may surface weeks later, in a quiet house or at an empty spot on the sofa. The Dallas area has therapists who specialize in this kind of loss, and support groups meet both in person and online. Reaching out is a sensible thing to do, not an overreaction.
A small-town farewell can be as simple as a walk. Some families in and around Highland Park take their dog's usual route one last time with the lead in hand, then gather at home for the vet's visit or the burial. It costs nothing, needs no permission and gives everyone something to do with their hands and feet while they grieve.
Highland Park is home to about 8,764 people, the 212th-largest of the 325 Texas communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Dallas, about 4 miles (6 km) away, which is where some providers serving Highland Park are based.
Highland Park sits within easy reach of University Park (2 miles, a larger centre), Dallas (4 miles, a larger centre) and Farmers Branch (8 miles, a larger centre). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Highland Park; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
3,250
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Highland Park
How we calculated this
8,764 ÷ 2.5 = 3,506 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 3,250. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
270
Estimated dog and cat losses in Highland Park each year
How we calculated this
3,250 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 270 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.
To check the figures yourself, see American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Local customs and your pet's farewell
Even with cremation at around 55.7%[5] in Texas, grandparents may have grown up burying the family dog under a tree, while their grandchildren expect an urn on the shelf. Asking an older relative to lead one part of the farewell, perhaps choosing the spot or saying the first words, brings their experience into a goodbye the younger generation has planned.
Source for the Texas number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Highland Park, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Planning an outdoor goodbye in Highland Park's climate
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 Highland Park's June, July, August and September, many families simply move the ceremony indoors, with the curtains drawn and a fan running.
Heat and ashes go together better than heat and burial. Many Highland Park families cremate in summer and hold the burial or scattering of ashes in a cooler month, when a morning in the garden or the park is pleasant rather than punishing. There's no time limit on ashes, so choose a date for comfort, not urgency.
Budgeting for a farewell in Highland Park
If cost is on your mind, you're in good company: in a survey of more than 2,000 US owners, 61% said the cost of body care worried them [6]. Cemetery burial is less alarming for smaller pets. Across five posted US price lists, the median whole-body burial for a small pet, plot and opening included, is ~$350[7] by our estimate. Ask cemeteries near Highland Park for a cremains plot price too.
Prices for Highland Park track the wider Texas market, so use the Texas price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Local rules worth checking in Texas
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 Texas.
The official Texas local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Highland Park.
For Texas's rules on burying a pet at home or scattering ashes, see the Texas guide. Local rules in Highland Park can be stricter than the state's, especially in homeowners' associations and rentals.
A simple plan for the hours ahead
- 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 before collection, including any viewing or ceremony fee.
The weeks and months after the goodbye
On Highland Park's tree-lined blocks, families often know each other's animals from years of the same morning routines, so a loss is noticed. A short gathering at home or a few words over coffee with neighbors can mark the moment. Children may want to plant a flower, write a note or pick out a photo to frame, and friends from the block may appreciate a short message letting them know.
use the free tools before you ring anyone, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, or see how other readers answered in our polls. Close to Highland Park we also cover El Paso, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth; the full list for Texas and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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Who would you want at your pet's farewell?
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Should young children be part of a pet's goodbye?
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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
Does the Highland Park climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In August, with highs near 97°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. Winters here are mild enough that burial or scattering is possible in any month.
How many pet owners live in Highland Park?
By our estimate, about 3,250 households in Highland Park have at least one dog or cat, and around 270 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 8,764, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Highland Park?
The closest communities we cover are University Park (about 2 miles), Dallas (about 4 miles) and Farmers Branch (about 8 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Highland Park too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Where are the providers that serve Highland Park actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Dallas, about 4 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Highland Park and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Can I be there when my pet is cremated if I live in Highland Park?
Possibly, but it may mean a drive. Smaller places often send pets to a crematory in a larger centre such as Dallas, so ask your vet which one they use and call it directly. Some families take their pet there themselves, hold the farewell in the car park or a quiet room, and stay while the cremation begins.
How much does a pet funeral cost in Highland Park?
The farewell itself can cost almost nothing if you hold it at home. The main costs are body care: in the US, private dog cremation averages about $260[8] and pet cemetery burial about $831[9]. A home visit from the vet for the goodbye averages about $410[10]. Viewings, witnessed cremation, flowers and a headstone add to that, so ask Highland Park providers for a written, itemized total.
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 Texas's cremation rate at 55.7% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] 61% of US owners in the Cooney survey rated the cost of after-death body care as a concern (27.9% concerned, 33.1% very concerned). Cooney, Kogan, Brooks, Ellis - Pet Owners' Expectations for Pet End-of-Life Support and After-Death Body Care, Topics in Companion Animal Medicine (2020), 2020.
- [7] 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.
- [8] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [9] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for pet cemetery burial of a dog at $831 (range $659-$1,513). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [10] 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.
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