Pet preservation in Columbus
Roughly 6,200 dogs and cats die in Columbus 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.
- Real published prices, never guesses
- Care tips for a preserved pet at home
- Gentler options if full preservation isn't right
Columbus, Georgia
What pet preservation is like in Columbus
Children in Columbus families who have moved often may be especially attached to a pet that came with them from place to place. Explaining the loss simply and honestly, and letting them help with a small ceremony or choose a memorial, can help them process it. Adults may find it helps to mark the loss too, perhaps with time by the river or a short ritual on the pet's birthday.
Military life can make losing a pet especially hard. A pet may have been the steady companion through deployments, moves and long separations, and the grief can hit harder when a spouse or partner is away. Give yourself room to feel it. Many installations have family support services and chaplains who will talk about any loss, and online pet loss groups are available at any hour if you need to talk late at night.
Some families in Columbus would rather hand their pet to a person than to a courier. A practitioner within a few hours' drive, perhaps nearer a larger centre such as Columbus, could meet you partway. Bring your pet frozen solid in a cooler, agree the meeting point and time in advance, and bring printed reference photos so nothing depends on email later.
Columbus's population is around 202,171, the 2nd-largest of the 68 Georgia communities we cover.
Nearby, we also have local pages for Phenix City (3 miles), Opelika (27 miles) and Auburn (31 miles), which can help if your vet or the provider you prefer is based there.
Our estimate
74,500
How many dog- or cat-owning households Columbus has (estimate)
How we calculated this
202,171 ÷ 2.5 = 80,868 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 74,500. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
6,200
Estimated dog and cat losses in Columbus each year
How we calculated this
74,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 6,200 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.
Aftercare traditions in Georgia, and choosing to preserve
In Georgia, about 54.2%[5] of people are cremated, with burial still common. That mix shows up in pet aftercare too, and preservation sits alongside both. Some families preserve a paw or tail and bury the rest in the garden; others freeze-dry their whole pet. There's no local custom telling you which is right, which leaves you free to choose.
The Georgia percentage above is from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) and refers to human funerals. Treat it as context for Columbus, not as a count of pets.
Heat, cold and a freezer that mustn't fail in Columbus
Long hot spells across May, June, July, August and September strain home freezers in Columbus, especially ones sitting in a garage without air conditioning. A freezer working hard in a hot garage may not hold a steady deep freeze. Move your pet to an indoor freezer if you can, or put a cheap thermometer inside overnight; you want 0°F (−18°C) or colder.
When highs reach about 93°F in Columbus, shipping your pet needs extra care. Practitioners usually want pets packed in a thick cooler with plenty of dry ice and sent overnight early in the week, so the box never sits on a hot dock over a weekend. Ask them how much dry ice to use in summer, and never leave the packed cooler in a hot car.
Preservation prices beside other aftercare
It helps to set preservation beside ordinary aftercare. Private dog cremation averages about $260[6] nationally, while one price guide puts freeze-drying a cat or little dog at $1,000–$2,500[7]. By our estimate, that makes freeze-drying roughly ten times the price of a private cremation[8]. Seen that way, a single preserved paw with the rest cremated can be a sensible middle path for families in Columbus.
Prices for Columbus track the wider Georgia market, so use the Georgia price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
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 Georgia
One practical rule matters more than any statute: a pet who has had a post-mortem examination (a necropsy) usually can't be preserved whole, because of the incisions involved. If your vet, insurer or breeder asks for one, decide first which matters more to you, the answers or the body. Otherwise, domestic pets face few legal limits, and the notes below for Georgia cover anything you don't keep.
Georgia keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Columbus.
Start with the Georgia rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Columbus's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
Your checklist, in the order it matters
- Freeze first, decide later. A pet frozen quickly and kept frozen can wait weeks while you choose.
- 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. Curl them as if asleep, then seal them in two thick bags, squeezing out the air so the face and ears don't get freezer burn.
- 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.
Other ways to keep your pet close
Farewells in Columbus often reflect the region's church and family traditions: a short prayer at home, family gathered around, perhaps a favorite hymn or a few words before the pet is taken for cremation. Others prefer something quiet with no ceremony at all. Both are completely normal. Tell us what you'd like when you get in touch, and we'll email options from providers who serve Columbus and the surrounding counties.
Our services overview lays out every option side by side, try the free planning tools, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, or compare your instinct with the poll results. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover Augusta, Atlanta, South Fulton and Savannah, and every city in Georgia.
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
Why does the Columbus 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 54.2%[5] of Georgia residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Columbus?
The closest communities we cover are Phenix City (about 3 miles), Opelika (about 27 miles) and Auburn (about 31 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Columbus too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Is Columbus big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 74,500 Columbus households keep a dog or cat and around 6,200 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 202,171), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
How does Columbus's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Columbus, with average highs around 93°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Winters are mild, with average lows staying above freezing, so outdoor burial or scattering is usually possible year round.
Can I ship my pet frozen from Columbus to a practitioner in another state?
Usually, yes. Most practitioners who take shipped pets ask for them frozen solid for at least a day or two, double-bagged, packed in a thick cooler with dry ice and sent overnight on a Monday or Tuesday. Dry ice has labeling rules, so ask which carrier and service they want. Return shipping of the finished piece is often quoted separately.
How many families in Columbus choose pet preservation?
Very few. By our estimate, about 74,500 households in Columbus have a dog or cat, and around 6,200 dogs and cats die there each year. One market report suggests about 7%[10] of pet owners choose taxidermy, and freeze-drying is the bigger share of the work. Most families who ask about preservation end up with a mix of options.
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 Georgia's cremation rate at 54.2% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [7] Memorials.com puts freeze-drying at $1,000–$2,500 for a cat or small dog and $2,000–$5,000+ for a medium to large dog. Memorials.com – Pet Taxidermy Guide, 2025.
- [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 pet preservation (freeze-dry/taxidermy) market adds only about USD 2.7 million a year, far slower than pet funeral services. Our estimate: (112.7M - 88.6M) / 9 years. How we calculate.
- [10] About 7% of pet owners choose taxidermy, per Astute Analytica. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2024.
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