Planning a goodbye for your pet in Highland
Around 660 Highland 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.
- Small, personal goodbyes that fit your family
- Questions to ask any provider or cemetery
- No pressure, no packages you don't need
Highland, Utah
How families in Highland say goodbye to a pet
The quiet after a pet dies can be jarring in a busy household, and parents sometimes set their own grief aside to look after the kids. Make room for yours too. Veterinary schools offer free phone support, and online pet-loss groups meet on weeknights. If sleep, appetite or mood are still off after several weeks, a therapist who understands animal loss can help.
Highland is full of young families, so for many children here a pet's death is the first loss they've faced. Short, truthful sentences help more than euphemisms. Invite kids to plan part of the farewell, maybe choosing where in the yard to gather or which song to play, and let them see adults cry. Feeling included tends to make the day less frightening.
In a smaller place like Highland, a pet farewell usually happens at home or on the family's own land, because that's where the pet lived and where there's space. The vet often comes out for the goodbye, and cremation happens at a crematory in a larger centre such as Salt Lake City. That means the farewell and the handover are yours to shape, without a venue to book.
With roughly 21,571 residents, Highland is the 46th-largest of the 52 Utah communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Salt Lake City, about 24 miles (38 km) away, which is where some providers serving Highland are based.
Our pages for American Fork (3 miles), Lehi (4 miles, a larger centre) and Pleasant Grove (5 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Highland as well.
Our estimate
7,950
Highland: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
21,571 ÷ 2.5 = 8,628 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 7,950. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
660
Estimated dog and cat losses in Highland each year
How we calculated this
7,950 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 660 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.
Where these figures come from: Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
Faith, tradition and pet goodbyes in Utah
With about 46.1%[5] of people cremated, Utah is a place where funerals often mean a burial, a service and a gathering afterwards. Many families want something similar for a pet, on a smaller scale. A pet cemetery gives you that most fully; a garden burial with neighbors invited and food afterwards comes close for much less.
Source for the Utah number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Highland, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
How the seasons in Highland affect the day
Highland has both extremes: highs around 95°F in July and freezing lows in January, February, November and December. In summer, hold a home farewell within hours and keep your pet cool. In winter, you have more time but frozen ground, so many families choose cremation and bury the ashes in a spring or autumn ceremony.
Pet cemeteries around places like Highland often have seasonal rhythms: fewer burials when the ground is frozen, more in spring. Ask whether a winter burial is possible, whether they'll hold a service and bury later, and whether summer weekends book up. Knowing this early helps you pick a date the whole family can make.
Where the money goes in a Highland 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 Highland crematories whether a short viewing is already included before paying for a separate appointment.
We keep the detailed Utah price table on one page so it stays current: see Utah prices.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What you can and can't do in Utah
Rules for ashes are usually looser than rules for a body, because cremated remains are dry, processed bone rather than tissue. That's why burying or scattering ashes is often the simpler route to a graveside or outdoor ceremony. Here are the notes for Utah on both.
The official Utah local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Highland.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Utah level first; our Utah rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Highland or your HOA adds anything.
Planning a farewell in Highland, step by step
- 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, pick a spot on land you expect to keep, check the local rules, and plan a marker such as a flat stone or a pot plant.
- Invite whoever looked after them, even if that's one child and one parent. A small animal can leave a big gap.
- Say a few words or read a note, and finish by placing a flower, or a little of the food they loved most, on the box.
- Clear the cage, hutch or tank slowly over a few days, rather than the same afternoon, so the room doesn't feel suddenly empty.
Anniversaries, gatherings and quiet reminders
Some Highland families hold a remembrance when the scrub oak turns red at the mouth of American Fork Canyon in the fall; others wait for early summer, when the garden is in full bloom. There's no deadline. A closed urn keeps the ashes safe for years, so the gathering can wait until everyone, including older siblings living away, can make it home.
or compare your instinct with the poll results, 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. Close to Highland we also cover Lehi, Provo, West Jordan and St. George; the full list for Utah and for the United States is a click away.
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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
Will I have to travel to Salt Lake City to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Salt Lake City (roughly 24 miles from Highland) 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.
How does Highland's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Highland, with average highs around 95°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, November and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Is Highland big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 7,950 Highland households keep a dog or cat and around 660 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 21,571), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Why does the Highland 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 46.1%[5] of Utah residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Can I hold a funeral for my pet at home in Highland?
Yes, and it's the most common kind of pet funeral. Choose a quiet 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. Then ask the vet or crematory to collect afterwards, or go ahead with a home burial if Utah rules allow it.
When is the best time of year for a garden burial or scattering in Highland?
Spring and autumn, usually. Highland gets both summer heat and freezing spells, so the mild months between are when soil is workable, flowers are easy to find and older relatives can stand outside comfortably. If your pet dies in high summer or deep winter, cremation lets you hold the outdoor part later, on a date that suits the weather and the family.
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 Utah's cremation rate at 46.1% 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.
- [8] Across 15 US pet cemeteries' posted starting burial prices, the median entry price was about $600. Our estimate: median of starting prices [400,185,300,550,575,99,660.44,730,740,850,850,800,850,600,600]. How we calculate.
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