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Losing a beloved pet can be an incredibly difficult experience, and familiarising yourself with their final arrangements can be overwhelming, especially in the moment. This guide will attempt to ease your experience by walking you through what burials, cremation and other options are available in Singapore.
There are 3 main decisions to be made:
1) Whether to cremate or bury (most often, you can only cremate)
2) Do you want to keep the ashes? If you do, how do you wish to store them?
3) Do you want a keepsake for your pet to remember them by (wish ashes or not)?
Pet cremation services typically accommodate for all three –cremation, keeping of ashes, and creating keepsakes, be it using ashes or not.
Note that these decisions, and cost, are largely informed by the size and type of pet. For example, with birds, hamsters and fishes, regulations around how to treat their body is more relaxed. For dogs, cats, andlarger species, regulations require either cremation or burial.
Burial is Limited to Private Properties
Burial of pets is legal in Singapore, but not in public areas. That means that burial on any public plot, including streets, rivers, reservoirs, the sea shore, drain and open ground are strictly not allowed. A fine would be imposed for those who violate this law.
It is legal to bury one’s pet in a private property – most commonly, in private landed properties. The law mandates that owners must bury the body within 24 hours of death, but other than that, there are no specifications on how the burial must occur.
In shared private housing such as condominiums, management must be consulted on whether pet burial is allowed, although it is unlikely that they allow burials within the complex.
There are no public or commercial pet cemeteries in Singapore, so private properties remain the only burial option.
Only Smaller Pets Can Be Disposed with Waste
NEA permits smaller pets, such as “ornamental fish, birds, hamsters etc” to be dispose with general waste, by wrapping them up in a bag and disposing them with general waste.
For bigger pets such as dogs and cats, this is not allowed as NEA’s waste plants are not designed for the cremations of animals that size, thus must be sent to a specialised pet crematorium.
Given the restrictions on pet burials in Singapore, cremation is the most common way of handling a pet’s body. Pet cremation services would have to be engaged – our directory features a list of all services that can be sorted and filtered based on your needs and preferences.
Note that not all pet cremation services offer all three, and that bigger pets will cost more and if very largely sized, might require special arrangements. Transport is also typically included in the service, where a representative will come down to collect the pet’s body, and transport it to the crematorium.
Traditional Cremation – Communal, Individual, Private
There are three types of cremation of pets in Singapore:
1) Communal Cremation
Pets would be cremated with other animals, and the owners would not be able to keep the ashes nor witness the cremation given that the ashes will be mixed. Most of the time, these ashes will be scattered into the sea.
This the most affordable form of pet cremation, ranging from $50 to $430.
2) Individual Cremation
Pets would be placed in the cremation chamber with other animals, but there would be a partition which ensures that ashes are not mixed and can be returned to the owner. The owners cannot witness cremation but can collect the ashes.
This the balanced option in terms of affordability, ranging from $90 to $777.
3) Private Cremation
Pets would be cremation on their own. Owners can witness the cremation, and typically have some time to spend with their pet’s body before it is cremated. Ashes can also be collected.
This is the most expensive choice given its individuality and privacy, ranging from $168 to $800.
Alternatives to TraditionalFlame Cremations
Cremations are typically conducted with flame, where the body is burned till only the bones remain.
However, The Green Mortician offers an alternative type of cremation – aqua cremation. Aqua cremation accelerates decomposition in water, which mimics how nature would naturally decomposethe body, just accelerated using a special solution, and with a special device. Ashes can be kept. Find out more on their website.
After cremation, there are various options as to how to treat your pet’s ashes, either by scattering them, keeping them in a crematorium or making keepsakes out of them. Keepsakes can be made without using ashes as well.
1) Ash Scattering
It is common practice for communal and individual pet cremations for the service provider to scatter your pet’s ashes in the sea, if the owner does not wish to keep them. Sea burials, as this is called, serve as a symbolic gesture to lay your pet to rest in nature.
2) Urns
Ashes can also be stored in an urn. Urns come in different designs, shapes, and sizes, and can be heavily customised based on one’s preferences, and be placed at home.
3) Columbarium
Urns can be placed in a columbarium, where loved ones can come to pay their respects. Pet crematoriums are typically charged by year and niches can be personalised.
Mandai Pets Sanctuary and Sanctuary Pet Cremation are two pet cremation services that have a columbarium. Parting Goodbyes is working on providing a list of columbaria in Singapore.
4) Jewellery
Pet’s ashes can also be made into or kept in a jewellery. Necklaces where ashes are stored is an example of this.
5) Keepsakes
Other keepsakes, such as an imprint of your pet’s paw, can also be made.
