Frequently asked questions

Pet owners wishing to have a dignified funeral for their faithful friends often don’t have their own garden where they can bury their precious pet. If you decide to have your beloved pet or horse cremated, your own garden won’t be its final resting place, which could end up being visited by scavengers. Another thing to consider is that you can only bury pets on your own property if they weigh 10 kg or less. This weight restriction means burial is not an option for heavier animals. When pets are cremated, owners are accompanied by staff from the animal crematorium, meaning they don’t have to deal with the funeral themselves. Pet owners are met with sincere sympathy in their grief. Once individual pet cremation has taken place, owners are free to decide on where to keep the ashes. They can be stored in an urn at home, and can also be made into a custom piece of jewellery. Owners also have the option of taking the urn along with them if and when they move house. They are not tied down to any one place if they opt to have their pet cremated in an animal crematorium.

Deceased pets that are not buried or cremated must be handed into the local animal carcass collection centres. From there, they are transported to the extraction facility for recycling. This is where deceased animals are processed together with slaughterhouse waste into the likes of animal fat or carcass meal.

Essentially, pet cremation and rendering differ in the form of the farewell. Owners are sensitively supported in their grief during the pet cremation process, and can say goodbye to their precious pet in person and are free to decide on where to keep the ashes. Even during collection for rendering, little consideration can be given to the deceased animal’s body or to showing respect.

Small animals, pets and domestic animals, not to mention horses and other equines, can be cremated at ROSENGARTEN Animal Crematorium.

As soon as an animal dies, its body’s metabolism stops. The decomposition process begins after 24 to 48 hours. How long decomposition lasts depends particularly on the oxygen supply and the ambient temperature. Depending on the animal’s size, the decomposition process affects its body and appearance to different degrees. Deceased horses are usually more affected by the decomposition process than smaller animals. It is advisable to store the animal’s body in a cool place (below 10°C) as soon as possible after its passing and make a decision on what to do about it.

In addition to cremating your horse in a respectful manner, ROSENGARTEN Animal Crematorium also takes care of sensitive collection with a specially designed transport trailer.

A cremation order placed with ROSENGARTEN Animal Crematorium is fulfilled in approximately 1 week. The duration also depends on what keepsakes and urns you’d like. The cremation order may take longer if the mementos aren’t in stock or have to be custom made. Example: Creating a diamond from your precious pet’s ashes can take 6 to 8 months.

Cremating a horse takes about 8 hours. After cremation, the furnace has to cool down again for the same length of time before the ashes can be removed.

Every animal entrusted to us is monitored in our system. The cremation order accompanies your pet every step of the way. Likewise, each animal in Switzerland that is cremated individually is assigned a refractory, numbered firebrick prior to cremation. This number is documented on both the order and the cremation record. Matching this number allows us to rule out any confusion.

At ROSENGARTEN Animal Crematorium, you can choose between the following types of cremation for small animals and pets:

• Individual cremation

With individual cremation, your precious pet is cremated on its own.

We will return your cherished companion’s ashes to you.

You can say goodbye in person in the form of cremation by appointment.

• Cremation by appointment

For an individual cremation by appointment, you can accompany your pet and be present when the cremation begins. Appointment cremations take place exclusively by telephone arrangement. Please note the surcharge for this service of CHF 75.00.

• Communal cremation

Your pet will be cremated together with other beloved animals.

The ashes will be buried in our communal grave.

You can visit our communal grave at any time.

Cremation by appointment and returning the ashes are not available for this option.

We offer the option of individual horse cremation. Due to the animals’ size and weight, we do not offer communal cremation for horses. Horse grazing in a meadow at sunset in summer.

In addition to individual pet cremation, you can book a cremation by appointment. The deceased animal is carefully laid out in our Room of Silence. You can say goodbye to your precious pet in peace in the time remaining until the cremation. You can watch their symbolic journey across the Rainbow Bridge through a viewing window. The animal is then cremated, and we hand over the ashes to you personally on site.

The costs of pet cremation are calculated based on what type of cremation you’d like and your precious pet’s individual weight. There are also costs for collection, should you task us with collecting your pet. The costs for keepsakes vary, since they depend on your requests and ideas. See the following page for more information.  

If you have your own container for your beloved pet’s ashes, you’re more than welcome to hand it over to us or to present it together with your pet.

Many of our pet urns can be customised with engravings or foil stickers. You can also have some of the ashes or fur made into a unique piece of jewellery. Your pet’s paw print is a special keepsake you can choose for any pet, whichever cremation method you choose.

In contrast to the regulations concerning regular burial, there’s no harm in burying a pet urn in your own garden. But you should still take care to ensure that the urn’s material is as environmentally friendly and biodegradable as possible.

You will find us in the heart of Switzerland, on our premises at Fänn-West 10 in Küssnacht am Rigi.

The ashes produced during a communal cremation are sensitively interred in the communal grave. The communal grave is situated next to our building and can be visited at any time.

Friends and family are a vital source of support when it comes to coping with grief over the loss of your precious pet. People who have the same interests as you or who have experienced similar situations can also be a superb source of strength. Virtual pet cemeteries or memorial portals are maintained by a welcoming community of understanding pet owners who understand your pain and offer sincere support. Social media groups can also help people get over their grief. Attending discussion groups for grieving pet owners, calling over-the-phone counselling services, or seeking the professional advice of a medical or mental health specialist or a psychologist can help where other means fail. You don’t have to go through this situation alone.