Celebrating death of loved pets in 'positive way' at Albany pet cemetery

Every second New Zealand home has a pet and research shows we collectively own more than four million pets.

While furbabies bring considerable joy, many owners have to deal with pet death and deciding how to farewell them can be tough.

There is the option of cremation of course, but what if you want to bury your furry friend and the backyard isn't an option?

First Up met up with owner of a pet cemetery - perhaps the only one in the whole country.

Dave Stephens, 77, owns a 10-acre property in Albany, north of Auckland. It's a beautiful landscape of manicured gardens, quirky art and 2000 little graves of pets buried over the past 30 years.

Stephens remembers many of their stories, like one about a dog named Dennis Choi, who used to live in a shop on Karangahape Rd in Auckland central.

"Dennis didn't win the fight with the bus one day, so they had to come out here and bury him," Stephens said. "They were very upset, because he was an interactive little dog."

A few days later, the owner and her children came to visit the grave.

"It had been a day that was overcast and bleak and grey and horrible, but the clouds moved up late in the evening and the sunlight just burst up the valley. Mrs Choi was just overwhelmed it was her Dennis coming to visit."

Stephens told First Up another cat owner liked to pay a special tribute every time she visits her pet's grave.

"She turns up with a little lecturn where she puts her sheet music and plays 'Amazing Grace' on her violin.

"A lot of people celebrate the the death in a positive way."

For some, the final farewell is a family affair.

"I had other people turn up with three vanloads of people, 30 people to say goodbye to their dog."

Stephens first considered a pet cemetery in the 1970, when he was a busy executive in the capital.

"I was aware of pet cemeteries as a concept in various parts of the world.

"I lived in Wellington for a while and somebody started running Silverstream [pet cremations]. That struck me as a good idea then and I parked it in the head."

In 1980, Stephens quit his job and bought a 10-acre Albany property, which he began turning into what he calls his "200-year park project", but eventually, he felt something was missing.

"The property was starting to establish an ambiance and was looking pretty good, but what wasn't happening was enough people coming to enjoy that.

"Friends and family and parties and bonfire nights and all that sort of stuff, but I needed to get more people to just appreciate it for for what it was."

That's when he came back to the idea of a pet cemetery.

Fozzie was the first cat buried at the property, after its owner came across Stephens' flyer.

"She was the first one that responded to my marketing efforts of the day pre-computer - flyers and newsletters to all of the vets in Auckland."

Three decades later, he told First Up he probably worked harder than he did in the corporate sector, but was much happier.

"All Blacks would cry if they came and saw me working," he said. "To be fair, there are times when it gets a little bit daunting, but hey, I've got the beauty of having a concept of the 200-year park project.

"I'll never finish it, so I don't have to worry about the finesse or getting things done."

Stephens said the cost of burying your much-loved pet at the cemetery, but Stephens said it was similar to pet-cremation services.

"You're not paying for me to dig the grave, you're paying for the privilege of leaving your pet in a nice environment.

"I don't want to undercut cremating businesses and I don't want to be more than cremating business."

He charges $490 for a cat, $540 for a small dog and about $750 for a big dog.

"I go out, walk around with my bag of tools and I look for a spot that just looks good on the day.

"When people come and I've never met them before, we stand on the deck that overlooks the property and have a little bit of a chat, and then we go to the graves.

"I will generally back away and then whenever everybody's ready, you can place the pet in the grave or we'll do that together, depending on the size."

Stephens gives the owners a few minutes to collect themselves and then they can fill the grave in, if they want.

"That gives good closure."

He is well aware he needs to have a plan for the property, once he is no longer around.

"We don't have family and we have nobody to leave it to.

"We've spent a lot of time and money looking to give the property away to a suitable organisation or charity, who could use the grounds and the property.

"It could be a retreat."

Until then, he is happy providing a forever home for people's furry companions that have passed on.