Pet preservation in Englewood
By our estimate, about 13,000 households in Englewood have a dog or cat. Only a small share of families ever consider preservation, so if you're one of them, here's how to freeze your pet in time and what comes next.
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Englewood, Colorado
Arranging preservation from Englewood: the practical side
For young professionals and renters in Englewood, a pet may be the main companion of a busy week. Losing that routine can leave you unmoored. Feeling sad for weeks, and being caught off guard by small things, is part of the process. If grief is disrupting your sleep or job, confide in a friend or a counselor who works with pet loss; many offer online sessions.
In Englewood's close-packed neighborhoods, neighbors often know each other's pets by name. When one dies, a brief goodbye at home, perhaps on the front porch, gives the household a quiet moment together. Letting a neighbor or two know can also help, since many will want to offer a kind word or share a memory of seeing your pet in the window.
Dry ice isn't always stocked in a town the size of Englewood. If you're shipping your pet to a distant practitioner, you may need to buy it in a larger centre such as Denver on the morning you send. Handle it with gloves, keep the car windows cracked while you drive and never seal it into an airtight container, because the gas needs to escape.
Englewood's population is around 35,305, the 25th-largest of the 36 Colorado communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Englewood are based about 6 miles away in Denver, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
The closest communities we cover are Littleton (4 miles), Lakewood (6 miles, a larger centre) and Denver (6 miles, a larger centre). Providers serving those towns often travel to Englewood too, so it can be worth asking them for a quote.
Our estimate
13,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Englewood
How we calculated this
35,305 ÷ 2.5 = 14,122 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 13,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
1,100
Englewood families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
13,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,100 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Local aftercare habits and pet preservation
Cremation is chosen for about 77.4%[5] of deaths in Colorado, and local pet crematories have built whole menus around it: engraved urns, clay paw prints, fur clippings. That's useful even if you're drawn to preservation, because it shows how much can be kept without keeping the body. If you're torn, freeze first, ask a crematory which keepsakes they'd return with the ashes and compare that with a practitioner's quote.
For the Colorado figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Englewood rather than as pet data.
Heat, cold and a freezer that mustn't fail in Englewood
Englewood has 5 months with average lows below freezing, which slows things down a little in winter. Cold doesn't replace a freezer, though. A garage or porch warms up during the day and cools again at night, and those freeze-thaw swings damage skin and fur. Use a proper freezer, even in January, and keep your pet in it once they're in.
Frozen ground through January, February, March, November and December in Englewood means burying anything you don't keep may have to wait until spring. That's fine. Whatever the practitioner returns, or your whole pet if you change your mind, can stay in the freezer until the soil softens. Label the bag clearly with your pet's name and the date so nobody opens it by mistake.
Budgeting for freeze-drying or taxidermy from Englewood
Large dogs are where prices climb fastest. On one US studio's published list, pets over 20 lb are priced at $2,781 + $69/lb[6]; by our estimate, a 50 lb dog would come to ~$4,851[7] on that list before a base or shipping. Ask several practitioners for a quote by weight, and ask whether a head-and-shoulders piece or a paw would be possible instead.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Colorado: Colorado costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Freeze-dry & taxidermy cost estimator
Estimate cost and waiting time for freeze-drying or taxidermy by size and pose.
Rules worth knowing in Colorado
Most people never need to think about law when preserving a pet. The exceptions are wild or native animals, pets that died of a notifiable disease, and pets sent across a border, where animal health paperwork may apply. If any of those fit, raise it with your vet and practitioner first. Anything you don't keep follows the ordinary burial and scattering rules.
To find your county or city office in Colorado, start with the official Colorado local government directory.
The Colorado page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. Englewood's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
A checklist for the first hours
- Freeze first, decide later. Once your pet is frozen and stays that way, taking a few weeks to choose does no harm.
- Blot, don't wash. Dab off any moisture with paper towel and keep the coat as dry as it is.
- Pose gently and bag tightly. A natural sleeping curl, then two heavy bags with the air pressed out to prevent freezer burn on the face and ears.
- Plan for a power cut. Work out now where dry ice or a spare freezer could come from, in case the power stayed off longer than a day.
- Ask two or three practitioners whether they take your species and size, how long their queue is and how they want your pet delivered.
- Ship or drop off frozen; if it's going by courier, send it at the start of the week and request a message as soon as it's in their hands.
Caring for the piece, and for the memories
Some Englewood families remember a pet with a stroll by the river, a visit to a favorite coffee shop on South Broadway or a snapshot taped inside a kitchen cabinet. Others light a candle each year on the date. Cremation is the usual choice in Colorado, and leaving the ashes on a shelf while you decide where they belong is widely accepted. There is no right way, only yours.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, try the free planning tools, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones. If you live between Englewood and Aurora, Denver, Fort Collins and Lakewood, either page applies. Every other community in Colorado, and all of the United States, is listed too.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
If you were preserving your pet, which route would you lean toward?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If your pet died today, could you freeze them properly within a few hours?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Questions people ask
Which nearby towns can I compare with Englewood?
The closest communities we cover are Littleton (about 4 miles), Lakewood (about 6 miles) and Denver (about 6 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Englewood too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Does the Englewood climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 90°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March, November and December, when lows sit below freezing, a home burial may have to wait for a thaw, so cremation with ashes returned keeps your options open.
Why does the Englewood page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 77.4%[5] of Colorado residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Where are the providers that serve Englewood actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Denver, about 6 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Englewood and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Can I keep my pet's skull or skeleton instead of a full preservation?
Yes. Some practitioners clean and whiten a skull, and a few articulate full skeletons, especially for birds, reptiles and small mammals. It's a quieter keepsake than a lifelike piece and suits people who like the idea of keeping something real but find fur and glass eyes unsettling. Ask about the method used, the wait and whether the remaining body can go for cremation.
Why is it so hard to find a pet preserver near Englewood?
Because it's a small craft. One industry report counts a little over 100 US pet taxidermy businesses[9], spread across a country where most households have a pet. Many are one- or two-person studios with long queues. That's why most families choose by portfolio and send their pet frozen to wherever the right practitioner is, rather than settling for whoever is closest.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Colorado's cremation rate at 77.4% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] An Ohio pet preservation studio prices freeze-drying for pets over 20 lb at $2,781 plus $69 per pound, and 6–19 lb pets at $2,095 plus $49 per pound. Animal Family Pet Preservation – Pricing, 2026.
- [7] On a per-pound-above-threshold reading of its price list, one Ohio studio would charge about $4,851 to freeze-dry a 50 lb dog. Our estimate: $2,781 + $69 × (50 − 20) lb. How we calculate.
- [8] Freeze-drying a cat or small dog costs about 10 times a private cremation. Our estimate: midpoint freeze-dry $1,750 ($1,000–$2,500) / $175 (private cremation 3–24 lb, NC provider). How we calculate.
- [9] The U.S. has more than 100 pet taxidermy businesses, generating an estimated USD 25–30 million in annual revenue. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2023.
Find a preservation specialist for your pet
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