Preserving your pet from Golden: the first hours and beyond
Roughly 630 dogs and cats die in Golden each year, by our estimate, and most go to cremation by default. If you'd like to preserve yours, tell your vet today and get them into a freezer within hours.
- What to tell your vet or emergency clinic
- Freezer and power-cut backup plans
- Practitioners chosen by portfolio, not postcode
Golden, Colorado
Arranging preservation from Golden: the practical side
Golden is a college town as well as a county seat, and many Colorado School of Mines students keep small pets while living far from family. If you lose a pet in the middle of a semester, you do not need to handle it alone: roommates, friends or campus counseling can help, and an aftercare provider can explain every option by email or phone before you commit to anything.
Colorado's human cremation rate sits near 77 percent, so many Golden families are already comfortable with ashes, urns and scattering. That familiarity does not make grief any lighter. When the heaviness hangs on for weeks, a counselor or bereavement phone line can help. Missing a companion who structured every day of your routine is an entirely expected reaction, and the depth of it simply reflects the bond.
Dry ice isn't always stocked in a town the size of Golden. 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.
With roughly 20,390 residents, Golden is the 32nd-largest of the 36 Colorado communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Golden are based about 12 miles away in Denver, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
For a second opinion on price, Wheat Ridge (6 miles), Lakewood (7 miles, a larger centre) and Arvada (8 miles, a larger centre) are close enough that their providers cover Golden routinely. Two written quotes tell you more than any price list.
Our estimate
7,500
Golden: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
20,390 ÷ 2.5 = 8,156 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 7,500. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
630
Estimated dog and cat losses in Golden each year
How we calculated this
7,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 630 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
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.
Where these figures come from: American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Why preservation means speaking up early in Colorado
In Colorado, where cremation covers about 77.4%[5] of deaths, many families already keep ashes at home in an urn on a shelf. A preserved pet is a bigger step along the same line, keeping your companion close in physical form. Framing it that way can help relatives who find the idea strange. And if some of your pet goes to the crematory, the urn and the preserved piece can sit side by side.
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) is where the Colorado figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in Golden tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
Golden weather, freezing and power cuts
Winter storms in Golden can bring ice, fallen lines and days without power. If your pet is waiting in a freezer, keep the lid closed, pile blankets on top and find dry ice or a generator before the second day. A full chest freezer kept shut holds its cold far longer than an upright model, and a garage freezer in December gets some help from the weather.
Frozen ground through January, February, March, November and December in Golden 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.
How much to budget for preservation
Pet insurance rarely helps here. Standard policies generally don't cover aftercare, and end-of-life add-ons have low ceilings; one wellness add-on could reimburse up to $650[6] toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Budget from savings, try our preservation cost estimator and ask whether the practitioner takes a deposit up front with the balance due before return shipping.
The Colorado price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
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
Taxidermy licensing mostly exists to stop trade in protected wildlife, not to regulate pet owners. Still, a careful practitioner will ask what species your pet is and where they came from, and may ask for proof that an unusual pet was legally kept. That's a good sign. If part of your pet is going to be buried or cremated, the usual rules for Colorado apply to that part.
Colorado keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Golden.
The rules that apply across Colorado (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Colorado page. Golden may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
Just lost your pet? An order to follow
- 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. Pat away any fluid with a paper towel and leave the fur dry.
- 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. Know where you'd get dry ice or a backup freezer if the electricity went off for more 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
A farewell in Golden can be as simple as sitting beside Clear Creek for a few minutes or as planned as an evening at home where friends bring photos and light a candle. Pet funerals are becoming more common, and some families invite neighbors who knew the animal well. The aim is simply that each person who shared life with your pet has a moment to let go.
try the free planning tools, or see how other readers answered in our polls, browse in-depth guides or recent articles, The services page is the place to compare what is included. Close to Golden we also cover Colorado Springs, Lakewood, Thornton and Denver; the full list for Colorado and for the United States is a click away.
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.
Where would a preserved pet live in your home?
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How do you feel about waiting months for a preserved pet to come home?
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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
Roughly how many pets die in Golden each year?
Our estimate is around 630. It comes from Golden's population (about 20,390), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 7,500 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Golden?
The closest communities we cover are Wheat Ridge (about 6 miles), Lakewood (about 7 miles) and Arvada (about 8 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Golden too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Will I have to travel to Denver to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Denver (roughly 12 miles from Golden) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Golden?
January, February, March, November and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 88°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
What should I send the practitioner besides my pet?
Photographs, and plenty of them. The face in good daylight from the front and both sides, how your pet's ears and eyes looked when relaxed, their favorite sleeping position and any unusual markings. Mention quirks too, like a tongue that always poked out. Practitioners never met your pet, so these details are what make the finished piece look like them rather than any cat or dog.
Is preservation worth it if the nearest practitioner is far from Golden?
Distance matters less than you might think. Most families who preserve a pet send them frozen to a practitioner chosen for the quality of their work, not their address, often hundreds of miles away. What distance does add is cost and planning: a cooler, dry ice, an overnight shipping counter or a long drive. Ask practitioners to include delivery in their quote.
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] Embrace's Wellness Rewards add-on could reimburse up to $650 toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Pet Insurance Review - Does Pet Insurance Cover Euthanasia? (Dec 2023), 2023.
- [7] Freeze-drying a pet costs about 6 times as much as an average cremation. Our estimate: USD 1,500 (midpoint of USD 1,000–2,000) / USD 250. How we calculate.
Find a preservation specialist for your pet
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