Opinion: ‘Until we meet again, brave little cat.’ The heartbreak and taboo of burying our pets

Editor’s note: Eric Tourigny England is a historical archeology lecturer at the University of Newcastle. His research remains with historical texts to examine the changing human-animal relations in Europe and North America in the last 500 years. The views expressed in this interpretation are itself. Read more idea In CNN.

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Why do we bury our loved ones in a cemetery? The primary goal is to provide surviving the opportunity to mourn and gain a sense of closure. The cemetery is a place to live as much as a place for the dead.

What about the people who leave, our pets – our pets?

Barcelona, ​​the Spanish city, announced that it will invest in its establishment. The country’s first public pet cemetery. It will offer both graves and creams in a way that will be opened next year – approximately 7,000 each year.

For me, as someone who has spent years to investigate the development of domestic cemeteries in other parts of the world, this news came as a shock. Barcelona is a city with dense population with a limited land of private property – one 50% of families are a pet owner.

What kind of city House for 180,000 dogs Isn’t there a public pet cemetery yet? So far, the service has been provided only by the private sector, accordingly Eloi Badia, a member of Barcelona’s climate emergency and ecological transition council. The authority added that the initiative financed by the municipality was triggered by “Continuous Public demand”.

After all, there are public pet cemeteries in Europe and America Since the end of the 19th century. The first public pet cemetery of England appeared in 1881 in Hyde Park in London. The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery from New York was founded in 1896, and a few years later, it was founded by Paris’s fancy Cimetière des Chiens in 1899.

While I was investigating the archaeological record of a century -old house in Toronto, I became interested in the history of modern pet burial practices. I came across a large dog buried in the backyard occupied between 1840 and 1870 according to the historical record.

This dog survived at an old age, but unfortunately, in the last months he suffered from degenerative joint disease and severe infections. Discomfort, in the last weeks of such a situation showed that he took some care. Later, he was buried in a personal plan behind the family house.

This old dog made me think about ways of interacting with the bodies of people after death. Can this behavior reflect the relationships they keep alive with their animals? In this case, why take the time to carefully bury a dog in your own field when there are other indisputable options?

After all, this was a period in which people often throw their dead pets in the river or sold their bodies for meat and skin.

Good hygiene is an obvious reason for choosing a grave – no one wants the animal bodies that are separated in the streets or gardens – but this does not guarantee a personalized, special grave and tombstone.

The simplest option is to eliminate a deceased animal with household wastes. However, such a treatment would clearly feel less ceremonial, and probably would not offer an emotional closure to the appropriate relationship.

Like the burial of people, the burial of pets is a sincere cultural practice, a cultural practice that changes over time and reflects changing relationships with the valuable creatures of a society.

Mine Historical tombstones and crushing work in Britain It shows the changing human-animal relationship since the Victorian period. In the 19th century, tombstones were often dedicated to a “loving friend” or “loyal friend ,, which shows that pets were often considered important friends.

At the beginning of the 20th century, domestic animals were proved by the emergence of family surnames on the tombstones and by loving inscriptions written by the “mummy and father”.

Society can also have a changing attitude towards the role of animals in the afterlife. A few decades later, faster advanced further and gravestones were more likely to come together for a previous reunion. For example, in 1952, the owners of the “Brave Little Cat ılan, buried in the East London Cemetery, wrote in the book“ God forbid until God meets again ”.

I wonder what the inscriptions in Barcelona’s new cemetery will reveal about the relations of modern Catalan with animals.

Over time, our ways to treat our animal dead seems to reflect a closer relationship in life. When it was absolutely banned by laws, he has seen many judicial authorities such as New York Province for the last decade and The common-nezles of burned animals and peopleUndoubtedly, it will lead to changing funeral and commemoration practices for both humans and animals.

For me, the most remarkable similarity among modern and historical pet cemeteries is the stunning evidence for mourning heart fractures and taboos.

The connection with someone’s pets can be as strong and important as their relationship with other people. Today, however, as in more than 100 years ago, individuals continue to struggle to express their suffering to express their suffering to fear the social repercussions that may come with the acceptance of the public opinion of such a bond.

RSPCA secures the people On the website They shouldn’t be ashamed for their grief. Like charities in the UK Blue cross And Rainbot Bridge Pet Lost Sorrow Center Provide consulting to old people.

For thousands of years, there are close relations between humans and animals, but in Western European cultures, there were a few acceptable ways to mourn this relationship. As society accepts the importance of human-animal relations with our collective welfare, it is not surprising to see the rituals we use to mourn the loss of our nearest human relations.

At the new Barcelona Cemetery, it is important to accept that this sad opportunity will not be financially available for everyone in the city at a cost of € 200 ($ 217) per service.

This will not be a space for all pets of the city. Pet owners may prefer to keep dead residues in their homes or instead of spreading ashes in a meaningful place. Online forums and Digital Pet Cemeteries It also provides other opportunities to commemorate the relationship and express the sorrow.

There are many acceptable ways to express your grief and remember your relationship with important animals in your life, whether or not a person is choosing a pet cemetery.