Wednesday, January 31, 2026
5:00pm - 6:00pm ET (NYC time)
The Morbid Anatomy Library at Industry City, Brooklyn
254 36th Street (between 3rd and 4th Ave),
Building 2, room C248. Enter at 254 36 street, immediately turn right, and ascend one flight of stairs, or use the elevator to the second floor.
In 1881 a dog named Cherry was laid to rest on the outskirts of Hyde Park in London. This seemingly innocuous act spurred a revolution. Other pet owners would soon follow suit, adding graves alongside Cherry’s, and the world’s first urban pet cemetery was born. Dead pets had previously been consigned to garbage heaps, rending plants, or tossed in rivers, but no more, not after the pet owners of London stood fast in the face of often mocking public sentiment that an animal that had lived and been loved as a family deserves at the end a death with love and dignity. Their example would spread and is now found around the world in a fascinating and touching array of different traditions. Dr. Paul Koudounaris will discuss this history and his book on animal burials and memorials, Faithful Unto Death, sharing a wealth of fascinating, heartwarming, and often bizarre stories and images.
Join Dr. Paul Koudounaris and Death Doula Lauren Seeley as they discuss the history of pet loss grief, burial , and memorialization. They address the importance of grief validation and acknowledgment around pet loss, pet loss grief, and the need for pet parents to create monuments around the lives and legacy of their beloveds.
Wednesday, January 31, 2026
5:00pm - 6:00pm ET (NYC time)
The Morbid Anatomy Library at Industry City, Brooklyn
254 36th Street (between 3rd and 4th Ave),
Building 2, room C248. Enter at 254 36 street, immediately turn right, and ascend one flight of stairs, or use the elevator to the second floor.
In 1881 a dog named Cherry was laid to rest on the outskirts of Hyde Park in London. This seemingly innocuous act spurred a revolution. Other pet owners would soon follow suit, adding graves alongside Cherry’s, and the world’s first urban pet cemetery was born. Dead pets had previously been consigned to garbage heaps, rending plants, or tossed in rivers, but no more, not after the pet owners of London stood fast in the face of often mocking public sentiment that an animal that had lived and been loved as a family deserves at the end a death with love and dignity. Their example would spread and is now found around the world in a fascinating and touching array of different traditions. Dr. Paul Koudounaris will discuss this history and his book on animal burials and memorials, Faithful Unto Death, sharing a wealth of fascinating, heartwarming, and often bizarre stories and images.
Join Dr. Paul Koudounaris and Death Doula Lauren Seeley as they discuss the history of pet loss grief, burial , and memorialization. They address the importance of grief validation and acknowledgment around pet loss, pet loss grief, and the need for pet parents to create monuments around the lives and legacy of their beloveds.
