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When Ed Hildebrandt bought Pleasant Mountain Pet Rest in Plymouth in 1980, fewer than three dozen pets were buried there. Today, more than 4,000 animal companions - from cats and dogs to a boa constrictor - are laid to rest in the 3-acre tract bordering Route 3.
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Business is booming, there and at other pet cemeteries in the region, as more people choose to give a human-like memorial to deceased pets. Grief is grief, specialists say, whether for a lost pet or a lost human companion.
Eighty percent of Hildebrandt's clients are choosing to have their pet cremated and returned in a wooden box (average cost: $150). The rest choose private burial (up to $450, depending on the pet's size).
"It's a matter of wanting to do something for the pet so that they know it's not being disposed of in a manner that's distasteful," Hildebrandt said.
Mary Hicks of Halifax is among the pet owners who feel that way.
When Lilly, her pug, and Nacho, her Chihuahua, died within three months of each another in 2001, Hicks, 62, turned to Pleasant Mountain to have a full burial and memorial service.
"It just felt right to me," said Hicks. "I didn't want cremation and I didn't want public cremation or a public burial. I wanted something private. It seemed to work." She visits the site regularly.
"There's a tendency to think it's strange," she acknowledges.
But for veterinarians and others who understand the human-pet bond, it makes perfect sense.
"The grief process is exactly the same," whether the deceased loved one is a human or a pet, said Dr. Stefanie Schwartz, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist for more than 20 years. "But our society does not recognize it to the same degree."
"Losing a pet can be more impactful and more emotionally profound than losing a family member," said Schwartz, who runs a pet loss support group at VCA South Shore Animal Hospital in Weymouth. "There are unresolved emotional issues with people, but the relationship with the pet can be very pure."
Schwartz said a pet can symbolize the "ideal" relationship the owner may be lacking with parents, siblings, or spouses.
"When that pet goes, it's shattering all the hopes and dreams and securities," she continued. "The relationships we have with our pets are sacred in a different way."
The loss of a pet can also be more devastating because of the potential insensitivity toward the pet-owner relationship. Schwartz noted that owners most often have to take a personal day from work for the loss of a pet, but are given weeks for the loss of a family member or friend.
Other veterinarians, including Dr. Lisa Barber, who oversees the pet loss support hot line at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, agreed that the pet-owner bond can eclipse that of some human relationships.