REST IN FUR Next to humans, pets long gone have their own share of visitors on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day at a cemetery run by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society in Quezon City. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Outside a gated compound on a hill between Quezon City and Marikina City, Vida de la Cruz patiently waited, not minding the sun that had already wilted the flowers she clutched in one hand.
It had been more than two years since she last saw her three “babies” at the pet memorial park of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).
Here, over a hundred pets— dogs, cats, and even bunnies—lay buried and are visited by their masters.
“This is the first time I have returned, and only after I saw a sign saying that we can visit my pets who are buried here,” said De la Cruz, referring to Beowulf, Chuchu and Girlash.
Braving the oppressive heat, she left her home in Balara along Katipunan Avenue to light a candle for each of her pets, who all died in July 2010 of a disease.
The grave site, a rocky portion inside the PAWS compound, is dotted with patches of grass and markers containing the pets’ names, their birth year and year of death.
Butch Silva, a PAWS volunteer, said the remains of those who did not die of illness are buried in another part of the compound.
Those who wish to bury their favorite dead pets pay a fee ranging from P500 to P1,000, athough Silva stressed that theirs is strictly not a pet cemetery.
“We wait for the remains to decompose and then we reuse the soil. But the owners are free to visit the markers or the pet memorial wall,” he said.
The pet memorial is a wall full of tiles with pets’ names often accompanied by their favorite pictures, where masters can leave flowers, candles and even food.
Once, an owner left behind a Spongebob Squarepants stuffed toy perched on a ledge for his dog Buffy.
Silva said owners can purchase a memorial tile for P1,000.
On Nov. 1, four of them came to visit their dead pets, he added. The Inquirer chanced upon De la Cruz waiting patiently outside the gate before she was let in yesterday morning.
She said she took some time looking for the spot where Beowulf, Chuchu and Girlash were buried, picking up rocks along the way that would support the candles she lit for her pets.
Dela Cruz also unwrapped the white flowers and separated it into three piles, one each for Girlash and Chuchu, who were a year old when they died, and one for Beowulf, who was eight when he passed on.
A PAWS gatekeeper who declined to be named said their visitors come to visit their dead pets year-round.
“Only a few come on Nov. 1 and 2,” he added, pointing to De la Cruz.
“They take photos of the grave site after they laying down their candles and flower offerings. They look happy when they walk out the gate,” the gatekeeper said.