The loss of a pet is painful experience. But pet owners don’t have to resort to having the burial in their backyard.

There is an option to have pets interred in Fairview Park Pet Cemetery, 1600 S. First St.

The second nearest pet cemetery is Paw Prints, located in West Chicago.

“Mr. Jaffke [who used to work for the cemetery] realized a need for it in the area and started it about 20 years ago,” said Barbara Burkart, a 16-year employee of the cemetery.

“Sixteen years ago, there were only six pets in the cemetery,” she said. “Today there are 400, and we have quite a bit of room to expand.”

The pet cemetery has received increasing publicity in the recent years, but before that many people were unaware that the service was offered.

“A few years ago I got a call from a woman who wanted to bury her bird. It was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend and we were not able to prepare the ground until the next Tuesday.” Burkart said. “I kindly asked if the woman could place the pet in the freezer to preserve it until Tuesday. She said that it wouldn’t be a problem because the bird had already been in the freezer for eight years.”

Burkart thought it was a joke at first, however the women explained to her that the the bird had been a pet for 20 years and she wanted to give it a proper burial but was unaware of the pet cemetery.

Burkart said she hopes pet owners will not have to search quite so hard as that woman.

There is a maximum size limit for pets. The largest animal that can be accommodated for is a dog like a German shepherd or a golden retriever.

“We could only accommodate a larger animal like a horse or a great dane if it was cremated,” Burkart said.

The cemetery holds a wide variety of pets like ferrets, birds and bunnies.

“We even have four police dogs from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s office,” Burkart said.

The burial space costs $75. It is required that the pet be placed in a permanent case.

Shells are priced according to their size. The smallest costs $25 and the largest costs $55. The burial price also is according to size. The smallest shell costs $25 dollars to bury and the largest costs $55.

“We do not require that the shell be purchased from us,” Burkart said. The shells have a top and bottom made of a fiber-glass material with a sealant in the middle. Every shell must be placed at least 18 inches from the surface of the ground.

Fairview Park provides temporary grave markers at no charge. It also offers the option of purchasing permanent markers from its office.

“The company that we use will put your pet’s picture in the corner of the memorial stone,” Burkart said. “It is an attractive plus.”

The only requirement regarding memorials is that they must be flush with the ground.

For information about Fairview Park Pet Cemetery, call 758-4858.